For love and revenge
by RevengefulAddict
Summary: Choices need to be made, paths need to be chosen, and sometimes, secrets need to be kept hidden. But as these events occur, seven lives, maybe more, may be changed forever. warning: yaoi, violence. Based mostly on manga.
1. Chapter 1: The Real Child Prodigy

Icy: I can't believe you're starting ANOTHER fanfiction, when you have two totally not uploaded, one that's just on the beginning, and a ton of homework.

Arisa: well it's not MY fault that I have a wonderful imagination.

Icy: that could be interpreted wrong.

Arisa: …get your mind out of the gutter.

Icy: no, rather, YOU should get your mind out of the gutter.

Arisa: _curses under breath_ I forgot she can read my mind…

Icy: That whole thought about the-

Arisa: _clamps hand over Icy's mouth _ ABOUT the butterflies in flowery fields was so beautiful!

Icy: oh yeah, sure. If you're so innocent, why are you writing a yaoi fic?

Arisa: I told you, I blame my mind. And seeing as you're my muse, I blame you.

Icy: okay, sure. Pass the blame. I see what kind of a coward you are.

Arisa: you can't exist unless I let you, so I suggest you stay on my good side _holds up a muse-killing dagger_

Icy:…you wouldn't.

Arisa: I Would

Icy: _whimpers_

Arisa: Now, _directs attention towards audience_ I have a few things I'd like to go over.

Icy: first, the disclaimer **We do not own Rockman.exe.**

Arisa: second, the warnings: yaoi/shounen-ai, some colorful and less child-friendly language, violence (Blood, death, etc), slight ooc'nes. You get the jist, so I won't spoil the story. Also if you hate OC's, I suggest you don't read this.

Icy: last, the dedication-

To Luke B,

who introduced me to my new found obsession for the Rockman.exe series, who taught me to look at life and love from all different directions, who let me open up and express myself without any condemnations, and who loved and supported me every single day.

**For Love and Revenge**

**Chapter One: **The Real Child Prodigy

"_Father! Look! I'm doing it! I'm actually doing it!" A scrawny black haired child laughed out heartily as he finally kept his balance on the little green bicycle and rode it around the grass._

"_Haha! Atta' boy!" The father clasped his hands in delight as he watched his son enjoy his new-found talent. Secretly, he was also relieved that this nine year old boy had finally learned how to ride a bike. _

"_Oh look at you!" A shapely woman approached from behind the father, and also saw what her son had accomplished._

The boy rode up with a toothy grin and happiness shining in his emerald eyes. He stopped in front of his parents and braked a little bit too fast, causing him to tip over and fall off the bike. Nevertheless, getting up and brushing himself off, he insisted he had achieved perfection.

"_Aren't you proud of me, mother?"_

"_Absolutely. I'll always be proud of you, no matter what, Rukku."_

"_And you, father?"_

"_Of course."_

_The boy smirked and crossed his arms. "Then when can help run the company?"_

"_Once you're old enough, my son."_

_This answer did not seem to please the child, nor keep him from bringing up the subject for long. As the trio walked back to the house, or shall we say mansion, Rukko spoke up once again._

"_When will I be old enough, father?"_

_The man sighed. "Soon, hopefully."_

A teen sat, staring out the window with icy blue eyes that could pierce a soul through the heart. He watched as the butlers carried his father's large suitcases into the mansion. The man stepped out of a limousine and look dejectedly at the sight in front of him.

The man was always like this. Every time he came home from a business trip, he always seemed disappointed to be, well… home. The teen didn't understand. He didn't understand why his father was so callous. How his colleagues seemed to think the man was the greatest thing since sliced bread boggled the teen's adolescent mind.

But after all, in his own fathers words, he, Enzan, was just a nuisance, and a disgrace to the Ijuuin family. Enzan knew the only reason he had been given the "honor" of being vice president of IPC was because his father needed someone with the family name to carry on the business after he passed away.

Enzan secretly hoped that day would come soon.

"Enzan-sama." His net-navi prodded, awaking his owner out of his trance of hatred.

"Yes Blues, what is it?"

"Your father requests your attendance in his office right away."

Enzan sighed, picking up his PET and clicking it in its holster as he began to trudge with dread towards his fathers face of wrath. He wasn't sure what he did wrong, being such a secluded, obedient son, but knowing his father, if the business trip went bad, Enzan would be the victim of his father's venting.

Walking past the foyer where servants busily unloaded his fathers luggage, Enzan finally reached the office room. Resting his hand on the golden doorknob, and enjoying the last few seconds of peace, he finally opened the door to hell. His father sat in his large black leather chair and looked out the window with a pure look of exasperation.

"Enzan, how many times do I have to tell you? I want the RX2 limo to pick me up from the airport, not the RX3. You know I can't watch the news from the RX3 because of its poor signal." His father didn't look at the boy, but rather, glared at him.

Enzan clenched his fist, digging his nails into the palms of his hands. His patience had been exceeded for the day, and to his misfortune, a snide, witty remark poured out of his mouth.

"Gee, nice to see you too, father. It's only been three months you've been gone. Sorry about the limo. I hope you know, I did call the company and told them to pick you up with the RX2, and as a matter of fact, I even requested they make a separate post-it note and leave it for the driver."

He crossed his arms, staring intently at his father. In his mind, he was kicking himself, knowing his comment would get him some sort of punishment.

"Ijuuin Enzan, uncross your arms right this instant. How DARE you talk back to me!"

Enzan let his arms fall to his side, but not once did his cold, blue eyes unhitch from glaring at the man.

"I am your father-"

"and I am your son. You get that? Son. S-O-N. You know, someone you're supposed to care about and at least remember their birthday once in a while? Someone you're supposed to talk to and have meaningful conversations with. Do you even know what grade I'm in?"

"Enzan, I've had enough of your attitude!"

"Answer me father! Do you even know?"

"Go to your room!"

"You don't know." Enzan crossed his arms once again, now unafraid of any punishment his father could bestow upon him. It didn't matter at this moment; Enzan was too infuriated to care. "You have no idea what grade I'm in, do you?"

"…"

"Do you!?"

"Of course I know!"

"Tell me then, _father._"

"… you're in the eighth grade."

Enzan scoffed then looked away quickly in disgust. "You're only a few years off." He shook his head and fixated his eyes on the man with mixed emotions. "That was three years ago. I'm in 11th grade now. Thanks for caring, dad."

He turned and began to walk out the door, leaving his father speechless. He slowed his pace in hopes the old man would apologize, but of course, he didn't. However, he was glad that his father didn't come charging after him to backhand him across the face.

Upon reaching his room, Enzan shut the door and began to walk over to his desk, but then….stopped. He didn't know why, but he just froze in the middle of the room. He crossed his arms and hung his head, pressing his lips together tightly. His heart felt as if it was about to explode from all the tears he had been holding back over the years. He had always doubted that the man knew anything about his son's life, but somehow the teen held onto a false hope. Now, Enzan was sure that the only relationship they had was the fact that he was vice president, and his father was president of IPC.

When he finally closed his eyelids, tears poured out from the corners of his eyes. Only minor sobs could be heard, and that was if one had been standing right next to the teenager. Very rarely did he cry, and the few times he did, he learned it was best to keep quiet when doing so.

'why even bother calling you 'father'?'

That night, clinking and clanking of forks and knives against plates was the only sound that could be heard in the banquet hall of the Ijuuin residence. However, while his father blatantly carried on eating with ease, Enzan couldn't find the need, want, or ability to swallow anything. How could he think about eating when he was sitting across from the man he was beginning to think was the devil?

The lack of conversation only served to make Enzan envious of another family. Like ibuprofen on an empty stomach can be bad for the body, the jealousy in his empty heart was just as threatening. He was reminded of the time, years ago, when the clueless, over-hyped-on-sugar brunette, Hikari Netto, begged Enzan to stay for dinner.

"_Enzan, pleeeeeeeeease?"_

"_Thanks, but no thanks." Enzan walked down the steps of the front porch, away from Netto's inviting home._

"_Mama made brownies!"_

"_Yes Enzan, why don't you stay? We certainly have enough to eat for one extra." Haruka helped her son's pleading by joining the conversation with an irresistible smile of kindness. Even in Enzan's normally cold heart, he couldn't help but feel warm and fuzzy in the Hikari residence._

_He sighed then quirked half a smile. "Oh alright."_

"_Yes!" Netto grinned childishly in victory. Enzan found it strange how the little runt could be happy to be dining with his best and worst rival. Even though Enzan would never admit it, he knew if he needed a friend other than Blues, he could always turn to Netto._

_When the food was set on the table, Enzan listened as the family talked about the day's meaningless adventures, and joked kindly with one another. Haruka and Yuuichiro took an interest to finding out about Enzan's own family life, and which in answering, he made seem better than it actually was._

_But it struck him. Even though they were only being polite, they at least cared to ask._

_Yuuchiro seemed like the best loving father a son could have. A good example was Saito, and how Yuuchiro dedicated his research in effort to save his son. T he way he cared about Netto seemed like a foreign tradition to Enzan, or at least a forgotten memory._

_But the person that got to Enzan the most was Haruka. The sweet, caring mother that Netto was so lucky to have made Enzan remember the one loving woman in his life that had passed away so long ago. Her warm smile reminded him of the few days he remembered seeing his own mother beam at him happily with a heart full of joy and love._

_Being with this family made Enzan awaken a feeling he had sealed away with the rest of his emotions. True, being around the Hikari's made him happy…but…he couldn't help but feel a bit lonely…_

Awaking from his reminiscent trance, Enzan realized he had subconsciously nodded as his father excused himself to leave the table. He watched as butlers picked up the empty plate, and then prodded the boy to whether he was done with his plate as well.

He foolishly bobbed his head and muttered some form of 'yes', letting the butler carry away the untouched plate. Watching the food walk away now made him realize how hungry he was.

'I wonder if the Hikari's have eaten dinner…no, that's foolish. 

Enzan scoffed at himself mentally, as he imagined himself waltzing over to the house and inviting himself in for dinner. It would be demeaning, tasteless, tactless; he couldn't believe he had just even thought of doing so.

'Get over it, Enzan. It's just one missed dinner.'

But the truth was, that in attempt to toughen up, he wasn't taking into account all the previous skipped meals of the days past. Going through kitchen, he somehow felt the need to 'sneak' an apple out of it. The butlers had worked hard to make dinner, and he felt somewhat bad for discarding a perfectly good meal. He figured one of the hungry servants would probably eat it instead, and after walking up to his room with the red fruit in hand, he disregarded the thought.

Flopping down on his bed, Enzan studied the apple before biting into it. After deciding for himself that it didn't look poisoned, he averted his thoughts to another subject as he bit into the fruit.

'I wonder what life would be like if I had parent's like Netto's…'

Arisa: Gomen. I know this story was short, but I kind of want to skip ahead way further in the future after this, so it only seemed appropriate to do so by switching chapters.

Icy: -drool- I wouldn't mind being that apple…

Arisa: and you said my mind was in the gutter.

Icy: -shruggs- ah well. When ya gunna get to the shounen ai?

Arisa: patience! It won't be for a while. I've got a lot planned, y'know?

Icy: yup.

Arisa: that's all you have to say?

Icy: Its 11:43 PM. Of course that's all I have to say. I'M TIRED.

Arisa: fine, then lets wrap this up.

Please review! Arigatou!


	2. Chapter 2: Name of Another

**Last Time:** Enzan's father comes home from a trip, only to scold his son for some insignificant detail that was out of enzan's control. As they eat dinner, the teen reminisces about his dinner with the Hikari's, and how their home life is so much different than his own.

**-----**

**Chapter 2:** name of another

It had only been a couple of weeks later, and Enzan was already growing tired of his father being around day in and day out. The white and black haired young man was making his way towards the door when his father seemed to be trying to get his attention.

"Rukku!"

Enzan at first thought the old man was talking to a butler, but after realizing that the name belonged to none of them, he paused.

"Are you talking to me?" Enzan asked, turning to the man with his hand still on the doorknob.

"Of course."

"Why did you call me Rukku then?"

Realizing his mistake, the much older Ijuuin thought up a quick excuse. "I didn't say that. You must've heard me wrong."

"Right…" Enzan nodded his head unconvinced. "Anyways, what did you want me for?"

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to work to pick up some documents that just arrived today."

"Good."

"Good?"

"It's good you're doing your job." Just then, the man seemed to think of a plan. "Say, are you growing tired of working?"

Enzan seemed shocked. Did his father just ask whathe, Enzan Ijuuin, actually felt about the work life he was thrown into, no thanks to the old man?

"Sometimes…but seeing as it's practically my life, not really."

"Perhaps you should take some time off so you can do, well, whatever teenagers your age do."

Enzan scoffed. _'and my age would be what, father?'_ he thought about asking those very words, but decided against it. "Alright then…I will." With that, he smirked, then opened the door and proceeded to walk out of the mansion.

When the door clicked shut, the man turned with a smile on his face.

"This will work out perfectly."

**-----**

Stamping the last of a stack of papers, Enzan sighed, picking up all the pastel and primary colored documents and stacking them so their edges lined up.

"Blues, where do these documents needed to be taken?"

"Sci-lab." The navi responded monotonously.

Enzan let a smile curve the corner of his lips. To him, Sci-lab brought back many memories of a more adventurous life.

"Mr. Ijuuin?" a woman stood at the door meekly, holding a slip of paper.

"Hai?"

"Your fa- I mean the president called and asked me to give this message to you." she nervously walked over to Enzan's desk, handing him the note.

"Arigatou." He nodded, taking the yellow slip of paper.

She walked to the door, gave him a sympathetic look, and walked out.

Gazing at the note, Enzan's eyes grew wide.

"Enzan,

I thought about what you said, and I think it's time for you to retire your position. Please have your desk cleared by Wednesday."

Enzan clenched his fist. "coward" he muttered aloud.

"Enzan-sama, is something the matter?"

"Father just left me a 'note' telling me that he's firing me."

Blues gaped a bit, then closed his mouth. "Why?"

"Apparently it's something _I_ said. I knew something was up when he asked me if I was tired of this job."

"And you told him that you were sometimes, right?"

"Right."

"Unfortunately I am unaware of his intentions this time." Blues replied. He always seemed to know what to say, so Enzan wouldn't grow too stressed out by his fathers antics.

Enzan thought a minute, then turned to his computer.

"Enzan-sama, what are you doing?"

"Searching for someone…"

"whom?"

Enzan ignored the question and proceeded to type in his search as he accessed the civilian records. Mixing his fathers name, and the mysterious name he had heard his father call him earlier, he waited anxiously for the results to come spiraling on the screen.

"What the hell?" he cursed aloud, seeing the one matched result. "Ijuuin Rukku? He has…another son? I have a brother? What?"

Blues listened to his operator desperately -and failing miserably- try to absorb all the facts given.

"Perhaps it's just someone else."

"But it says here on his birth record that the father is Ijuuin Shuuseki…my father." Enzan tapped his fingertips against the desk as he stared at the screen in shock. Not the kind of shock where one's jaw hits the floor, but more of a shock that renders a person so speechless, they have no way of expressing emotions, much less words.

"Enzan-kun…are you okay?" Blues dropped the formalities and his emotionless mask to let true sympathy express the concern he was experiencing for his net-op.

"How…?" Enzan whispered, loosing control over his ability to think before speaking aloud.

**-----**

Later that night, black and white hair wandered around the blackened streets idly. Though his father had much to explain, the teen couldn't care less to hear the lame excuses the man would conjure up. The crisp night air seemed to cajole him, even though he couldn't stop thinking about the betrayal of the day.

"heh, must be pretty damn sad when you can't even trust your own family, ne?"

Enzan spun around toward the direction of the insulting voice, with his guard on red-alert. He was faced, however, with a young man only a few years younger than himself. The punk had black hair and long bangs pulled carelessly to one side, which seemed to be his style. Emerald eyes gazed with intimidation at Enzan and a sly grin creased his thin, masculine lips. He was wearing a black leather jacket and dark blue jeans. A street lamp cast an even thinner shadow than the boy already was.

"Who are you, punk? And what do you know of my business?" Enzan shot back, glaring with his icy blue eyes.

"Hey now! Punk? I'm insulted!" The stranger grinned, "That's no way to talk to your brother now, is it?"

'So he's my brother. Father must've sent him out to piss me off even worse. What's with that man?'

"Blood wise, you're my half brother. Family wise, I've never even heard of you until today and you seem to be the cause of all my problems. So if I feel like being a jerk to you, I will."

"Why should I take the blame for anything that father has done? It's not my fault that I'm his favorite." The boy rested his hands in his pockets, much like Enzan was used to doing. In fact, they were both standing in the same exact pose.

"Look, I don't need to take this crap from you."

"So you're leaving IPC all together?"

Enzan scoffed. "So you know about that? You must be in on this with father, huh? You're the little mastermind behind me loosing my job."

"Again, I'm insulted. I never dreamt up such a plan. It's all father's doing. I had nothing to do with it."

"Oh, I highly doubt that." Enzan stared at him, grinding his teeth in anger "To answer your question, I believe what father had intended was for me to leave IPC. So yes, I will be leaving the company all together"

"Then I guess you really won't have to take any more crap from me. That is, unless, father enforces that rule at home."

Enzan kept a calm, unimpressed composure, even as the puzzle pieces to this family fiasco were starting to fit together.

'so he really goes to visit Rukku when he goes on business trips and he's kicking my position to give it to that brat.'

"So how old are you?" he asked, not being able to tell from the darkness of the set sun.

"Twelve."

"Heh, say good-bye to your childhood. From here on out, it's all about work and papers. But then again, you seem like a geek with no life, so this will just be routine, right?" Enzan smirked and walked past Rukku who stood still as a statue.

"Hm. So that's where you got it, huh?"

Enzan paused his gate. "Pardon?"

"Your jerk personality. It's from having no life except work."

Enzan turned around slowly, grinning. "Precisely. So have fun with that." His eyes shot a glare at the boy before he proceeded to walk away.

"Oh…I will." Rukku muttered under his breath with a smirk as he began to walk in the opposite direction.

When his legs finally grew tired of walking, Enzan found himself somewhere completely foreign to his senses. After all, it was dark and not only was he was tired and weak emotionally, but physically as well. Never before had he felt so pointless.

"Enzan-sama, would you like me to call a cab to bring you back to your apartment?"

"Blues, I'm not even sure I even still have an apartment. Looks like father's totally picked me off of the family tree."

"Ma-" Blues was about to speak, but was interjected by Enzan, who now finally felt the need to open up to someone.

"What I don't understand is why he would adore that little brat, and completely discard me. I mean, I learned to become a great net battler in hopes to win his praise. Even after winning the N1 grand prix, he still seemed closer to the mailman than me. Do you realize we don't even HAVE a mailman?! Granted, for a while I was a bit stuck up, but never around father. I never boasted around him, I never disrespected him, I was the most agreeable, obedient son a father could ask for, yet every freaking day of my life he has looked right through me."

Blues gaped. It was the first time he had ever seen his net-op in such a state of emotional despair.

"God, what am I supposed to do?" Enzan found himself pacing around in an alley behind some old, shut-down shop whose previous habitants left only a sign to explain the closure. Letting his back lean against a cold brick wall, he slid down into a ball-like position and cradled his head in his hands. "What on earth am I supposed to do?" he asked aloud rhetorically.

Blues frowned. The red-clad navi couldn't help but feel hatred towards Ijuuin Shuuseki.

'synchronization achieved through anger…gross emotion.' Words of the past echoed and haunted the navi's memory.

Enzan may have seemed like Blues' master to most, but the two of them knew they had a more of a secret brotherly relationship. The fact that Shuuseki was hurting Enzan, who was not only the man's son, but Blues' best friend, made him even more upset.

He noticed water had splashed onto the PET. At first Blues wondered if it was raining, but his brain and instincts made him realize that Enzan was actually _crying_. It had been a long time since Blues had seen the young man cry, and during those times, the emphasis was on the word 'young'.

"Enzan-kun…"

Realizing he had completely lost it, Enzan wiped his eyes on his sleeve and took a handkerchief out of his pocket to fix his sniffling nose.

"Yes, Blues?"

"I'm sorry."

"Huh? Why?"

"I don't know…I just am." Blues sighed, "I wish I could be there to comfort you. Being stuck here in the cyber matrix doesn't help much when you're upset."

"It's okay. Knowing that at least you're on my side makes me feel a little better." Enzan cracked a small smile at his navi, earning a smile in return.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back?"

"Positive. I have nothing trivial at the house nor the apartment. I've got my PET. That's pretty much all I need to survive." Sighing, he lowered his voice. "I just don't know what to do from here on out."

Not expecting a response to his rhetorical thought, he was surprised when he got one, in the form of a female voice, no less.

"How about picking up your feet and walking?"

Enzan looked up surprised to see a tom-boyish hand reaching out towards him. Glancing at the hand, then the girl, a sort of snappy sounding tone came out "Who are you?"

"Tamika. But you can call me Mika." She laughed as he just sat there staring at her hand. "Honestly, it's not going to bite you. And if you don't stand up and try to do something about your problems, how're you going to fix them?"

"What do you know about my problems?" he asked, taking her hand to stand up.

"Not much, really. I was only walking by when I saw an unfamiliar face sitting in this area of town. I like to visit that shop over there."

"You mean the one that's all boarded up?" He asked, dusting off the back of his pants where he had been sitting on the ground.

"Yeah." She smiled widely. "My friends used to run that shop. I haven't talked to them in a long time, but that shop is kind of a symbol of where we were and how far we've come."

Enzan looked at the girl strangely.

"By the way, what's your name?" she asked, turning her gaze from the shop to him.

"Enzan." He replied nonchalantly

"You got someplace to go? 'Cause I wouldn't advise hanging out here all night. Get's kinda dangerous out about this time." She said, adjusting the baseball cap that added to her street-savvy demeanor.

Enzan looked down at the ground for a few moments then replied solemnly "Nah, not really. I have no idea where I am, to tell you the truth."

"Down town Electown. Where ya from?"

"Densen."

"Wow, you wandered far. Hey, you must be starving! Wanna' come over for dinner? I can make a mean mac n' cheese." She laughed, slapping her hands on her hips confidently.

"No, no, that's alright." He began to protest, but she crossed her arms and looked at him sternly.

"Hey, I got ya outa yer self pity. The least you can do is humor me!"

Enzan actually felt like laughing. Here was this tom-boy, a complete stranger, scolding him for moping, and inviting him over for macaroni and cheese. The funniest part was that he actually had a desire for a warm plate of that cheesy goodness.

"Well? Are ya just gonna keep staring at me with those sad blue eyes, or are you gonna say something?"

"Uh…sure, I guess…"

Mentally, he was kicking himself. For all he knew, she was some assassin, planning to poison his food. But he needed to rely on someone; he was tired of always putting up his guard. It seemed that for all the times he sheltered himself from many caring people, the one cold hearted person he let in was the one who let him down. He knew there were other warm people out there, willing to be loyal and friendly, like Netto and his happy-go-lucky friends, but he shut them out.

'_It's alright Enzan, go ahead.' _A little voice echoed in the back of his mind. He wasn't sure where it came from, seeing as he had never felt the pressing urge to trust a stranger before. Perhaps letting himself be vulnerable was the best thing to do right now. How could he do otherwise? He was too drained to hold the doors to his emotions shut any longer.

As she motioned for him to follow, they began to traverse to mika's place, wherever it was.

'could this get any weirder?'

Yes, Enzan, it could. And it did.

"Y'know, its funny." She started "You have the same eyes my mother had."

Enzan began to laugh, which we all know was quite rare. "Oh please. Not this again."

Mika looked over at him curiously. "Huh?"

"I've found enough long lost relatives for today."

"Is that why you were down in the dumps?" she laughed "Literally."

"Oh, that was only the half of it." Enzan looked down and laughed exhaustedly.

She smiled "I'm always an open ear if you wanna talk about it."

Of course he did. It felt nice being able to start over and open up to someone, without them judging him for being a hypocrite for all the years past he shut everyone out. So, as they walked the streets, Enzan explained everything that had happened.

"Your father made you VP of his company so young?" Mika looked at him surprised.

Enzan nodded. "When my mother died, father threw me into the company so I could instantly grow up and take care of myself."

"My mother died too when I was seven. But yikes," She grimaced, "I don't know if I could've handled that kind of company stress so young. Now? Maybe, if I were smarter." She laughed.

"What grade are you in?"

"Sophomore."

"High school?"

Mika laughed. "Snap, do I really look that young?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You're in college?"

"Yup. What about you?"

"Junior in high school."

"I'm surprised. You look older than that." She looked at him as they passed underneath a street lamp.

"Heh. Should I take that as a compliment?"

"Take it however you want. Some teens hate looking old, others hate looking young." She shrugged "It's all about perspective. When you think about it, age doesn't really play into much except for our physical abilities. Other than that, it's all about maturity and imagination. Some old people are such children at heart."

"You must be majoring in philosophy, right?" he grinned. _Perhaps she's not so bad after all. _

Somewhat to his surprise, she shook her head 'no'. "Nope, I'm into Net Science and Law."

"If you ever need help, I can be of assistance." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh?" she looked at him curiously "How is that?"

"I've had quite a bit of experience in the field. I've been with the officials for a long time."

"Long time? But you're only a junior, so you're like what? Sixteen, seventeen years old?"

He closed his eyes as he continued to walk, depending on his other alert senses to guide him. "Skill in defending the net doesn't necessarily depend on age. Like you said, it only plays into our physical abilities."

"A rich child prodigy, eh? We could use one of those on our team."

Enzan, who now had his eyes opened, looked over at Mika. "Team?"

She shook her head. "Well, I mean on the good guy side. We need more people who are skilled in the field to be on the side of good."

"I…see…" not fully convinced, he began to interrogate Mika as a he would a suspect. "So what do you do outside of college?"

"Work. I help people down in the dumps, kinda give them a head start towards a new future."

'She seems okay. Perhaps I'm over analyzing a miracle.'

He grinned "So do all of these lucky people get a free mac and cheese dinner?"

"Only the ones who need it the most." She smiled back, and began to walk towards an old apartment block, squished between two taller buildings.

Upon entering, Enzan twitched as the overhanging fluorescent light in the main stairway flickered, signaling it wouldn't be long until it just completely died. Their feet clanked against the rusty aluminum stairs, and shouting could be heard from inside multiple apartments.

"Eh, sorry this area probably isn't what you're used to. It's kinda hard to take care of yourself, others, go to college, and have a job all at the same time." She smiled sheepishly, finally stopping at one of the doors, and inserting a key into the handle. "Besides, I don't spend a lot of time here."

As they walked inside, Enzan mentally insisted to himself that the small apartment reeked of cat-litter. Strangest thing? There was no cat to be found.

"Sorry it's a bit messy. Here, have a seat on the couch and I'll get right to that mac and cheese, I just gotta go to the bathroom first." She laughed, and Enzan cringed.

He could tell the couch was old from the tears and from the way he felt himself nearly sink to the floor. In fact, almost everything seemed old. The t.v. aligned parallel to the couch seemed to be almost vintage, still requiring antenna's, and had the style of an old black and white tube. The way she was taking him in like an old friend made him feel obliged to do something in return. Maybe he would stop by again some day and invite her for a real dinner.

'_nah, that would give the wrong impression. Flowers would definitely do that too.' _ He smiled as he looked at the T.V. _'A new one would be so trivial for me to buy, but it seems she's saving every penny. I'll be sure to get one with antenna capabilities, just in case she doesn't have cable.'_

Smiling, he thought about his new friend. The girl reminded him of Netto. A lot like Netto. Open, friendly, active, determined, and most of all, blunt. The truth was, he missed the little runt. He regretted their first encounters, and in fact, meeting Rukku felt like meting his younger self. Snotty, arrogant, self-absorbed, and an overall jerk. He could remember being like that once, and he shuddered.

**-----**

"I'm Ijuuin Enzan, licensed net battler." He stepped forward out of the shadows to get a better view of his ally and rival "Hikari Netto, and Rockman, I presume?"

"_Ijuuin Enzan…I.E.! He's your colleague Netto!" Rockman exclaimed, but neither one of the boys paid attention_

"_You fancy yourselves worth of a license? I think not." Enzan replied haughtily _

"_What?!" He watched as Netto clenched one of his fists in anger, and threw the other hand up to point at the two-tone haired boy "Think what you like! I'm bustin' you down to first grade right now!" The brunette turned to his net navi "Rockman, prepare for netbattle!"_

"_What?!" Rockman exclaimed, obviously not fond of the idea of battling an ally._

"_c'mon Enzan! Time to see who's top dog!"_

_Enzan closed his eyes and smirked as he pulled out the cord on his PET. "Heh…we'll see alright…just how little you understand about the vast gulf between our skill levels!"_

_The two boys jacked into the net battle machine, where Rockman was undoubtedly caught off guard by Blues' speed. A s they fought, a lurker came in, confessed to be a world three recon navi, but begged for his life. He claimed that after being abandoned, world three took him in, and if a decent net-op would take him in, he'd leave world three in an instant._

_The difference between Enzan and Blues, and Netto and Rockman were spelled out as black and white as enzan's hair, then and there._

"_Who would abandon a self aware net navi?" Rockman gasped_

"_The original net-op should be flogged!" Netto exclaimed_

"_I've heard enough… You're deleted." Blues snapped coldly. With a swing of his sword, the navi shed into particles, and caused a small explosion._

_Rockman stared at the floor in disgust "Why did you do that? H e was no fighter, no threat…he even begged for his life!" Netto and Rockman seemed to echo each other "What possible reason was there to commit such cold blooded deletion?!"_

"_The best possible reason: He was world three." Blues held out his hand, revealing a small chip. "This is his memory chip. The only thing of any value."_

"_Value? Why you…" The net-op and net navi glared at their opponents "So that's how you operate?! You and me allies?! Never in a million years!"_

_Blues analyzed the concentration between Netto and Rockman's synchronization. _

"_Full synchronization achieved through anger…"_

"_Gross emotion." Enzan scoffed "How inept. You're an utter failure."_

_Rockman charged at Blues, swinging his sword and barely missing the swift navi by inches "Blues! You're wrong! You saw evil where it didn't exist! He was lost and alone, with no will to resist! Couldn't you see ANY of that?! Didn't you feel the merest SHRED of compassion or mercy?!"_

_Blues succeeded in slicing Rockman past all his attacks. "NO! Compassion? Mercy? Those things are POINTLESS."_

_Enzan spoke up "All I believe in, all that counts…is power!"_

"_Total absolute power!" Blues echoed_

_Rockman staggered up from the ground, panting in exhaustion "Absolute power…that's it?"_

"_Sounds like you and world three have an awful lot in COMMON then!" Netto sneered_

"_I've had enough of you…" Enzan gritted his teeth_

**-----**

Arisa: If anyone's curious, that whole last flash back was from the Megaman, nt warrior manga, vol. 2. (I just got it on Friday 3!) I didn't intend to make it so long, but I really wanted to emphasize where Netto compares Enzan to world three. And, of course, since it was in English, they used English names.

Icy: But seeing as we don't like their English names, we changed them to Japanese. So when Rockman is like "Ijuuin Enzan…I.E.!" it was actually "Chaud Blaze…C.B.!" sorry If we spoiled the manga (ehe…)

Arisa: XD…I.E…Funny how that's the initials for Internet Explorer too. Capcom does that…little subliminal messages. I'm sure I'm not the first to notice almost all their names have something to do with music as well.

Icy: at least it's not as bad as 'heroes' (Love that show 3)

Arisa: Hehe, and if you didn't pick up the subliminal message about the mac and cheese, it goes back to the older commercials, "I've got the bluuueesss!"

Icy: it could be saying that Enzan's sad, or just a pun between his navi's name and macaroni and cheese.

Arisa: Anyways, for all you yaoi fangirls (and perhaps fanguys?), just to let you know, the pairing there isn't going to come in for a while, but I will put in hints and such.

Icy: Also, Mika isn't intended to be a major OC, just a necessary character for what's coming up next.

(Later note: Since I've written ahead, I realized that Mika is an essential part to the story, so she's _accidentally _ a major OC. Sorry for you 'mary-sue' haters. But she's not like most, so hopefully you'll like the character she plays)

Arisa: Right. so please review? Arigatou.


	3. Chapter 3: The Mono Virus

**Last time**: Enzan finds his father is kicking him out of the family business and replacing him with a step brother who seemed to have come out of nowhere. Upon wandering through the streets and finally taking refuge in an alley, a tomboyish girl by the name of Tamkia, or Mika, befriends him and invites him over for a dinner. Enzan then reminisces about how he used to be just like Rukku, and his first encounter with Netto.

**00000000**

**Chapter 3:** The mono virus

"Kotyro, we have another member on our way."

"voluntary, or no?"

"On the verge. He doesn't realize it yet though. He's an official, so we'll have to be careful."

"How do you plan to get him to our base?"

"Just like the others."

"Does he look heavy?"

"No. getting him to the car shouldn't be a problem. It's just his net navi we have to worry about. I know the boy will need him."

"a good battling navi?"

"One of the best."

"How will we convince it to keep quiet?"

"That's our problem."

"I see… are you sure this young man will help us?"

"Positive. He's oh so very resentful of his old man, the president of a company."

"Which one?"

"IPC."

There was silence on the other line. "You've got Ijuuin Enzan?!"

"You know his tactical skills. He'd be such an asset. All we need to do is get him down to the base and convince him to join our team. He's a wreck and in no position to think things through properly. I'm sure it'll be easy."

"You make it sound like we're the bad guys."

"We are, aren't we?"

"Yes, to the rest of the world we are. But to the people we pick up and give a purpose for living to, we're the heroes."

"And Enzan will realize that soon enough."

"Alright. How long do you think it'll take to have an effect?"

"Probably half an hour tops. I'd say be here in fifteen minutes."

"Roger."

_click_

**0000000**

Enzan closed his eyes and sighed.

'_How could I've been such a jerk?'_

He heard a door open, and glanced to see Mika walk out of the bathroom.

"Now, I'll show you what a superb chef I am! Who else takes pride in their ability to make macaroni and cheese, huh?" She laughed from behind the half wall that separated the small kitchen from the small living room.

"heh." He half smiled "Not many, I can assure you."

"Exactly!" she exclaimed as she stirred the noodles. After adding the finishing touches, she divided up the meal into two bowls, one blue one, one purple one.

'_You'll thank me later for this, Enzan.'_

Quickly, she grabbed a small clear glass bottle and poured half of its contents into the blue bowl. As she capped the bottle and put it back in a cupboard, Mika noticed he was turning around to look at her, and so she quickly grabbed a glass from the same cupboard.

"Would'ya like something to drink?" she offered politely.

"Water will be fine, thanks."

"Alrighty! One glass o' water, coming up!" she said energetically.

**0000000**

Netto plopped down on the couch of his comfy home and flipped on the television.

"Netto-kun, after ten years of school, you're still procrastinating?"

"Relax, Rockman. All I have is trigonometry left. Besides, I've been working hard this week, ne?"

The blue navi let out an exasperated sigh "Hai. But if you don't finish it, you'll have to work on it during your other classes tomorrow, and then you'll miss what they're teaching."

"I will finish it. Don't worry! I'm just taking a break. World history is such a drag. I can't believe Meriu got me to take the excelled class!"

"Even more, I can't believe that you have a solid 'A' in it."

"Which proves I've got my schoolwork under control."

Rockman rolled his eyes, realizing he lost the argument "Fine, you win."

"Don't I always?" Netto grinned childishly.

After not receiving an answer, he turned his attention towards the television.

"A new virus has spread across the net, mirroring that of the effects of the real world 'mono' virus. The cause of infection still remains unknown. The effects cause navi's to feel incredibly exhausted after one hour of waking up, and will prompt them to go to sleep again for an extensive period of time. The virus is believed to be released by the terrorist group, Vengance."

"What a pain those guys are…" Netto sighed "Oi, Rockman?"

"hai, Netto-kun?"

"You haven't been kissing roll, have you?"

Rockman's face turned a bit pink. "No, why would you say that?"

"Just making sure. A new virus is out, called the mono virus. Here on earth it's spread by kissing or sharing drinks. Apparently its on the net now too."

"Oh, right. We got an e-mail about that a couple of days ago. They said they don't know how its spread on the net though."

"But wouldn't it be likely that if that's how its spread on earth, then it's the same on the net?"

"Not many navi's kiss, Netto-kun."

"but _some_ do." Netto looked at the navi from the corners of his eyes and spoke with a teasing voice.

Rockman sighed. "Are you trying to ask me if I like her?"

"Well now that we're on the topic, do you?"

"Just as a friend, Netto-kun. Remember that." Rock then grinned. "What about you and Meriu-chan, hm?"

"Same." Netto spoke with ease, showing he actually meant it.

"Dekkao will be happy." Rockman laughed.

"Definitely." Netto chuckled

After a bit of silence between the two, he felt the urge to ask another question.

"Rockman?"

"Hai?"

"Do navi's actually have attractions like that?"

"Like human love?"

"Right."

Rockman nodded. "We have emotions, don't we? Love is certainly one of them."

**0000000**

After finishing the last bit of macaroni and cheese in his bowl, Enzan leaned his head back and yawned.

"That was really good. Thank you."

"Told ya' it'd be good! And you're very welcome." Her eyes widened as she seemed to remember something. "Oh! I'm working on a simulation investigation for school, I'm a bit stuck and I was wondering if you could help?"

"Sure."

Mika smiled as she got up from the couch, and to Enzan's surprise, she went to her backpack and pulled out a newer looking laptop.

"You look like a fish with your mouth hanging open like that." She laughed, causing Enzan to close his mouth and blush from embarrassment.

"Eh, sorry. It's just that…"

"It's new and nothing else in this apartment is? Yeah, I was lucky. I won this at a drawing at my work. There's no way I could've afforded one of these on my own." She smiled and mumbled "Sometimes luck gets to ya at the right time."

Mika showed Enzan a simulation investigation and he pointed out the errors she had made that was leading her to a cul-de-sac.

"See here, the report testifies back at the beginning that victim was last seen roughly 100 meters away from the Yellow Sun Casino with a blood alcohol content of 0.53 Then later on it points out that the suspect has been a bartender at numerous locations."

"right, and I went to the casino and asked if the suspect worked anywhere there, and they said no. I also asked if there were any patrons staying in the hotel by the name or picture, and that was confirmed negative as well."

"Then you left and disregarded that path, right?"

"right."

Enzan smirked. "Perhaps the suspect has a friend."

Mika's eyes lit up. "That murdered the victim instead!"

"Or…" Enzan yawned, "The suspect might've stayed at the hotel or worked there, but used another name, so when you asked if the picture looked familiar, it was easy enough for the friend to say no."

Mika smiled. "Smart. Hey, sounds like you're tired."

Enzan nodded "No…" he yawned again.

"Right. I believe you."

"Enzan-sama, would you like me to call a cab?" Blues spoke up.

"I better check that my apartment is still mine." He sighed "Dial the apartment complex."

"Alright."

"Welcome to Crescent Moon apartments, may I help you?" A woman's voice echoed on the other line

"Hai. I'm looking for an apartment number under the name of Ijuuin Enzan?"

"Just a moment." The clicking of a keyboard could be heard on the other line. "I'm sorry, there is no one here under that name."

"Ijuuin Shuuseki?"

"No, I'm sorry. If you are wondering, there is one under Ijuuin Rukku, however."

Enzan was silent.

"Sir?"

He snapped back to reality and wiped his face dumbfounded "Uh, yeah. Um, thanks." Sighing, he ended the call, which Mika had heard plain as day.

"If you want, you can stay here. I mean, the couch is all I have, but it's nice and comfy to sleep on!" she laughed

"Eh, no thanks."

All their attention was directed towards Enzan's PET when he heard a confused yell.

"Huh?!" On the net, Blues watched as a female navi was seconds away from crashing into him, as if she were running away from something

"yaaah!" and thus the crash course collision took place, landing the navi embarrassingly on top of Blues.

"gomen! Gomen!"

She got up and held out a hand to help Blues up off the floor. And if by this point, Enzan thought his day couldn't have been eventful enough, well, he was wrong again.

The navi quickly kissed Blues then began to sprint off again. "Gomen! Gomeeeeeeen!"

A very amused Enzan nearly fell off the couch with laughter, whereas Blues stood still as a statue, looking somewhat confused, somewhat angry, and somewhat scared.

"That…" Enzan said between laughs, "was possibly the funniest and most random thing I've ever seen in my life."

"Enzan-sama…" Blues growled.

"Just who the heck was that anyways?"

"You really think I know?" the red-clad navi snapped

"I wonder what she was running from?" mika stroked her chin in thought.

"Spirits, ghosts. She might've had the possession or hallucination virus." Enzan shrugged.

"She must've thought Blues was someone else." Mika snickered.

Blues sighed with exasperation. "ANYWAYS. What are you going to do about your sleeping arrangements, Enzan sama?"

Enzan shook his head. "I'll just stay at a hotel for now. I really don't feel like confronting father."

"Very well. Shall I make arrangements then?"

"Hai."

Blues streamed out of the area and began his search for a suitable hotel, while Enzan and Mika continued talking.

"Alright, well I think I've got the case under control from here. Thanks!" she exclaimed, getting up and putting her laptop away. "Wanna watch T.V. until Blues gets back?"

Enzan shrugged. "Sure."

"I don't have many channels, but enough."

"Anything's fine with me. Just as long as it's not too mushy." He stretched his arms and leaned his head back, barely able to keep his eyes open.

Mika watched him from her dark blue eyes and smiled.

'_Kotyro, you're a genius.'_

Arisa: gomen. This chapter is short, I know. Again, chapter breaks are better for expressing time breaks.

Icy: I love the random "hit and run" scene

Arisa: I had to keep from bursting out laughing when I wrote that. (coughitsactuallyaveryimportantpartoftheplotcough)

Icy: way to be inconspicuous.

Arisa: I'm talented, what can I say?

Icy: say nothing, and people will awe in wonder.

Arisa:…

Icy: dear god! She does shut up! It's a miracle!

Arisa: do you want to experience life, or do you want to go back to wandering in the dark reaches of space where you have no one to talk to?

Icy:…

Arisa: Thought so. Anyways, Please review! This time, if you review, you'll get a cookie. like those really good sugar cookies with thick pink frosting. Or if you don't like pink, then red! For Christmas! Yes! Sugar cookies with red frosting, daintily decorated with green tree and brown gingerbread man sprinkles! Mmmm…cookies…

Icy: Arisa-Chan!

Arisa: what?

Icy: SHUT UP!


	4. Chapter 4: ‘V’ for Vengeance

**Last Time:** After receiving a delicious macaroni and cheese dinner, courtesy of Mika, Enzan helps her out with a simulation investigation, becoming very tired in the process. Netto talks to Rockman about the 'mono' virus that is being spread on the net, and asks him about navi love. Blues gets trampled by a strange female navi, running away from apparently nothing, and is then kissed by the navi, who then starts to run away screaming 'sorry!' repeatedly. Enzan calls the apartment complex he lives in only to find that it now belongs to his half-brother.

Talk about a day.

**Chapter 4: **'V' for Vengeance

Enzan's eyelashes fluttered open to see a dull grey blur all around him. He blinked a couple of times to clear up his vision, and found himself in what seemed like an empty warehouse room. The lack of decoration gave him scarcely a clue to what it had actually been used for. He went to rub his eyes, only to find that that his hands were bound behind his back around a pole and his feet were tied together as well.

'_Shit…I knew I shouldn't have gone with her. Damnit!'_

He wrestled around with duct tape that held his hands together. Realizing his adrenaline was causing him to become hasty and loose his rationality, he took a deep breath and began to approach the situation more calmly. He found an end-piece to the tape and quickly began to unravel it, but what a pain that was. After successfully freeing his hands and sparking some hope that he'd make it out alive, he began to unbind his feet, which went a lot quicker than before.

Standing up, he quickly looked around the room for surveillance, in which kicking himself, he realized he should've done before un-taping himself. Instead, he found a heavy plank of wood that had fallen off one boarded up window. Taking the wood, he tiptoed over to the door, stood behind it against the wall, and gave it a hearty knock.

No seemed to be outside, until he heard footsteps approaching the door.

The doorhandle turned, the door flew open, and so did the plank of wood onto the strangers head. Enzan quickly darted past the heavy-set stranger, who was on the verge of loosing consciousness. As he ran down the hall, he realized his PET was missing, and what fun that'd be to explain to his father- if Enzan ever saw him again.

He had no idea where he was going, but he knew he couldn't leave Blues behind. But his rationality gave him hope, causing him to keep running.

'_Last I saw, Blues had gone onto the net to look for a hotel. He might still be there…'_

Finally finding an exit sign, Enzan made a mad dash for the door, only to open it and find himself on the roof of some building.

And there stood the same tomboy girl, holding a stopwatch and grinning.

"ten minutes and 24.5 seconds. Not bad. I've seen better."

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"Giving you a chance to start over, Enzan."

"No thanks. You're the one who needs to start over, Mika."

She shook her head causing her long black hair to bounce freely in the air. "That's where you're wrong. Everyone here has the same goal as you."

"How do you know my goal?"

"You want revenge on your father, right?"

"Yes, but I'm not about to join some gang to kill him!"

"We're not a gang. Do you know who we are, Enzan?"

Enzan inclined his head backwards. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea. "Well…no…"

"Read the newspapers lately?"

"Every day, why?"

"We're that 'net terrorist organization' that everyone's getting upset about. The truth is, we go after certain targets, but they end up messing it up so half of the world gets involved. Like the mono virus. That was only meant for one family. But they spread it to others and before you know it, it's a worldwide pandemic."

"The net terrorists, Vengeance?"

"Exactly." She crossed her arms "Look at me. I know those eyes, alright!"

"Eyes? You mean mine?"

"Yes! Look at this!" Mika held out a picture. "Look familiar?"

Enzan took the picture and Mika watched as his eyes grew wide. "That's…"

"My mother. Yours as well."

Enzan shook his head. "No, I don't have a sister."

"She was married twice. First to my father, and shortly after I was born, she got divorced and married your father. Do you know why she died?"

"Heart failure."

"Heart failure due to a shot in the heart, kid." Mika shook her head. "Your father murdered her, and with his company power, covered it up to look like she died from natural causes."

Enzan's mind had gone completely blank and tangled up all at the same time. "Theres…theres no way! He's a jerk, but he wouldn't murder her!"

"He would, and he did. My father, who still cared for her even though they'd divorced, saw it happen…I saw it happen."

"That's bullshit! There's no way he would've done that!"

"I thought you wouldn't believe me." She pulled out a plastic baggy out of her long trench coat. At this time, she looked somewhat like Laika with a purple hat hiding her deep purple eyes.

She held up the plastic bag so Enzan could see a blood-stained gun. "After he shot her, he shot my father. I got scared and climbed out my window to run away. I came back the next day to find the baka was stupid enough to leave the gun. When I told the police though…they didn't believe me."

"No…I'm not stupid! He wouldn't do that!"

"Oh, but he'd totally ignore your feelings, kick you out of the company, give you no place to go, except for home where he can kick you while you're down? Think about it, he has zero kindness for anyone he doesn't need."

"Why would he kill her?"

Mika looked down and shook her head. "I don't know…She was the sweetest lady on earth…"

Enzan stepped back "How do I know I can trust you? You drugged me then took me here, bound me up, and timed me to see how fast I could escape. Not to mention, took my PET. Where's Blues?!"

"Relax, he's sleeping. And if you don't believe me, look at this." She walked up to him and showed him another photo. "That's me, my father, and my mother."

Enzan's mouth hung open a bit as he stared at the picture. The woman who had her arms around her daughter, was definitely his mother, and the girl in the picture was definitely Mika. Before letting his emotions get to him, he quickly turned the picture over to gaze at the date imprinted during the developing process.

"As you can see, that was fourteen years ago. How long ago did she die?" Mika asked, her tone implying that she knew the answer.

"thirteen years ago…I was five years old…" Enzan trailed off. As much as he hated to admit it, he realized this girl was telling the truth and she had a point.

"So you see, we're not terrorists without a purpose. Crimes go unpunished because of the unlawful power many have attained. We do the justice. In the process, we give the rejects of the streets a purpose for living."

"So that's what you meant…"

"You remember well." As Mika approached him, Enzan felt the urge to back away, but stood his ground anyways. She held out a hand. "So you in, or not, _brother?"_

Enzan studied the hand carefully, then looked into Mika's eyes. He began by slowly raising his hand, and to keep himself from changing his mind, he quickly took it in his grasp and shook it.

She smiled and took a walkie-talkie out of her coat. "Kotyro, set up a room for Enzan. He'll be joining our team."

"Go ahead and put him in the brute force unit. The kid sure knows how to make a weapon out of anything!"

Mika raised an eyebrow at Enzan with an amused look on her face. "How'd you do it?"

"Found a piece of wood, got the guy to open the door, and hit him over the head with the it."

Mika laughed. "He wasn't even supposed to be there."

Kotyro heard and responded gruffly "He knocked on the door for Christ's sakes!"

"So it seems training will be unnecessary then. Most of the new recruits don't even realize the wood. Usually takes them half an hour to an hour to escape as well." Mika smiled. "I had a feeling you'd be valuable on our team."

She reached in her pocket, pulled out a red handheld, and tossed it to Enzan "He's asleep right now. He was infected with the mono virus."

"What? how?" He asked surprised, catching the PET.

"Remember the hit and run last night?"

"That was a set up as well?"

"Partly. Like I said, that virus was created for a different family, but proved useful in getting your navi to fall asleep. Don't worry, we have the ability to purge it out."

"And the macaroni and cheese?"

"It was drugged. I'm impressed, you stayed up longer than I expected. I just pulled out the simulation investigation to test you."

"When did I pass out?"

"Seconds after I turned on the T.V. Then Blues came back to your PET in sleep mode a few minutes later." She pulled her coat around her closer, as the icy wind began to kick up. "Lets go inside. We'll discuss more there."

She walked past him, and he followed suit through the many bleak hallways. "Mika?"

"Hm?"

"What do you remember about mother?"

Mika smiled but did not turn around. "She was incredibly sweet. A bit stubborn, but always and completely humble. You're lucky. You have her eyes." Mika stopped in front of a door. "I'd give anything to have her back again."

Enzan nodded. "Yeah…me too."

She nodded "By the way, my name is actually Sarena. You can call me Mika if you'd like though."

"Did mother give you that name?"

She cocked her head to the side. "I'm not sure, why?"

"I'll call you by whatever she called you."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself. I think that's what she named me."

"Then that's what I'll call you."

**0000000**

"No, Mr. Ijuuin, he's not here. I haven't seen him for months…Alright, well I'll call you if I find anything. Yup…alright…bye…" Netto sighed after hanging up.

"Enzan has gone missing?" Rockman asked surprised.

"No, he just didn't come home last night. He must've stayed at his apartment or something. They probably gotten in argument." Netto shrugged. "Besides, who would kidnap _him?_ No offense, but he'd drive anyone crazy within two minutes of getting to know him."

"Netto-kun, you shouldn't say that."

"Oh come on, you know I'm kidding! I love that guy, but he just gets on my nerves sometimes." He covering his mouth over his bad choice of words, but decided against it and let it pass.

"You two have come a long way from when you first met."

"Yeah…" he looked away to hide his blushing face from Rockman "definitely."

A wave of worry came over Netto as he stared at the floor. "Mr. Ijuuin wouldn't call unless he knew Enzan wasn't at his apartment…maybe something did happen…" turning to his PET, he gave Rockman a stern look "Call his cell."

"But Netto-kun-"

"Call it. If he doesn't pick up, we'll know something's wrong."

"Alright. Dialing."

Sarena snapped her head from the window to the desk where a red PET began to ring. Enzan was about to pick it up, but doing a dive, she grabbed it before he could answer.

"No!" she hissed.

"What? I was only going to see who it was."

"I'm sorry, but they might be looking for you. If they connect a call with you, they can trace the signal back to here." She sighed and looked at the front display. "Besides it says 'Netto'."

Enzan wanted to smile, but he didn't. "That's my friend."

"Just as well you didn't pick up then."

"Meaning?"

"He doesn't know what's going on. Most likely he'll convince you to get out of this."

Enzan studied her worried face carefully. "So what does this mean? I'm trapped to this place forever?"

"What else have you got? Where've you got to go?"

The PET began to ring again, causing silence between the two. The noise caused a thousand thoughts to race through his head, somehow making each ring sound like an ear-piercing shrill.

'But what if Netto's just calling to see how I am? Or maybe father called him to see where I am because he does care? What if we have to attack sci-lab? What if Netto finds out I'm with vengeance now? Most of all…why do I care?'

Finally it stopped ringing, but a flashing red light indicated a call had been missed. Enzan shifted his weight as he sat in the chair and stared at the PET.

"Listen. You know the reason you never had a childhood, the reason you never had a mother, is because of your father. Justice must be served, and unfortunately, doing what needs to be done isn't always easy."

"You think I don't know that?" Enzan glared at her as he snapped.

Sarena just stood there with her arms crossed, unphased by his motions. "It seems you needed a reminder. I'll make a deal with you."

Enzan nodded cautiously "I'm listening…"

"Once we serve justice on Shuuseki, you may leave the group. You say nothing about us, and we'll say nothing about you."

He thought a moment. "Sounds easy enough." He watched the girl, anticipating an answer. This mysterious female had so tricked him with her happy-go-lucky, friendly demeanor the night before, he still wasn't sure if she was going to trick him again.

"Practice for mission 42 will start tomorrow." She began to walk out of his room. "By the way…"

"yes?"

"If you try calling, making a call, or e-mailing, Blues will be infected with one of these." Sarena held up a dark purple chip that brought back a flood of memories to Enzan.

"A dark chip…"

"Right. So don't try anything funny."

"Y'know, acting like the bad guy is only making me more untrusting of you." Enzan said, standing up and placing his hands in his pockets.

"We can't take any risks. I know its hard to fight along side someone who's been labeled the enemy for so long. We realize it'll take you a while to fully realize that we're doing a good thing." She smiled as she stood in the doorway and placed a white glove on his shoulder. "This is for mother."

**0000000**

A brunet paced around the floor of his living room anxiously and worriedly.

"Netto-Kun, he might've been sleeping or something. Just calm down!"

"Rock, I'm the one who sleeps in until 12:30, not him. He's the one who would wake me up 2 hours before our crossfusion training at 8:00. Even then, he probably was up an hour before that!"

"Maybe he had a busy night?"

"pft." Netto shook his head, trying to suppress the immature giggly look on his face "doing what?" he mumbled.

But Netto doesn't mumble or whisper well at all, causing Rockman to glare at the boy indignantly "Netto-Kun!"

"Sorry, sorry. Anyways, I don't have anything to do today, right?"

"Right."

"Maybe I'll take a stroll over to his apartment."

"Hai. Just make sure you tell mom."

Not a minute later did the lady of the house walk in to the room, only to hear the blue navi's last comment. "Tell me what?"

"Oh, I'm going to pay a visit to Enzan's apartment. His dad called and I think he's looking for him. He didn't say specifically, he only wanted to know if Enzan had stopped by last night."

Haruka offered a confused look "That's strange. Alright, well, take your time. Just be back by dinner."

After picking his PET off the table, he gave the sweet woman a kiss on the cheek "I will, see you later."

"Bye, be careful!" She warned, following him over to the door.

**0000000**

Enzan stared out the window of the small empty room. The white tile on the floor and a broken chalkboad made him realize he was in some sort of old school. The burn marks on the walls made him understand why there weren't any children or students. An artificial makeshift wall seemed to separate the classroom into two, making it much smaller than its original size. A broken down box-spring mattress cornered one of the walls, and a table was placed in the middle. For some reason, he suspected this was one of the luxury rooms of the whole place.

'I wonder how many there are of these people? Am I one in a hundred, or one of hundreds? Thousands? No, not possible. This place couldn't fit a thousand people. It's too quiet.' He sat in silent thought a moment 'Maybe this isn't their only base…Maybe there are more bases…But why do I care? I can't report them, I'm one of them… I want revenge.'

Averting his eyes from the window, he gazed over at the red PET. Hikari Netto had tried calling him. Why? Probably to invite him to a movie or something.

'Heh…all the times I told him I was too busy. I should've taken every chance I got…' His eyes widened at his own thoughts 'What's wrong with me? I'm acting like a lovesick puppy.'

Love?

'No way. Especially not now. This whole team might turn out to be a good thing. A main objective with no emotions or mercy will let me get my head screwed on straight.'

Picking up a walkie-talkie placed next to his PET, he signaled in.

"I'm ready."

**0000000**

Arisa: I'm so proud, I got my friend Audrey into the Rockman series. It was an exchange, she got me into starbu—er, I mean, some coffee shop (I'm not allowed to use real company names, right?), and I got her into an anime! (not only that, but she thinks Enzan is shmexy in the manga too. :P)

Icy: This should be good…

Arisa: oh, you mean the fact I'm about to write a violent chapter while feeling very angry and distraught?

Icy: That and the fact that more often you'll be writing chapters, hyped up on pure sugar and caffine. Not to mention Yaoi fangirlism.

Arisa: And anger. You can't forget anger!

Icy: like I said, this should be interesting.

Arisa: Exactly, SO! If any of you people want to see this interesting chapter coming up, You'd best review.

Icy: did you just say 'You'd best'?

Arisa: yes, now buzz off. Dishapears POOF! Like that. Now begone!


	5. Chapter 5: I’m Right Here

**Last time:** Enzan wakes up kidnapped by Mika herself, who explains that she's his step-sister, and the reason for her team, net terrorists Vengeance, is to right wrongs done by unlawful powers. One of the unlawful powers is Ijuuin Shuuseki, who apparently murdered their mother. In the meantime, Netto receives a phone call that worries him to no end about Enzan's well being, and is prompted to go and look for him.

**0000000**

**Chapter 5:** I'm Right Here

_Four Months._

_It's been four months since I've been here. The smell of freshly cut leaves, y'know, those pointless decorative bushes that line the driveway? Yep, that stupid circular driveway, the one that could make any visitor feel inferior, and that's before getting to the glorious mansion. But there was nothing glorious about it. Add some burn marks, broken windows, eerie screeches, perhaps some cobwebs, and you've got yourself a perfect Halloween horror. The empty, lonely, bone chilling feeling doesn't need any installation; it's already there._

_I would have never dreamed of this before. Here I am, hovering over the old tower, about to drop a sphere that will rip that god-forsaken piece of land to shreds._

_God spare my soul for all of the horrible havoc I've condemned on the house and my father's precious company. Everything from fires, viruses, power outages, to 'mysterious' breaks in the firewall, and yes, I've even messed around with the bank system, handing out larger paychecks to the lower employees, and nearly causing the whole company to go bankrupt. But I know sci-lab would suffer for that, so I didn't let it happen. _

_Netto's at sci-lab…_

_I saw that little runt a couple of weeks ago. Well…he's not so little…or a runt. He's actually quite the opposite. He's grown a lot in the course of four months. And yes, I'll admit, he's become pretty handsome. But there's also something I've noticed: He's not the overzealous happy-go-lucky boy I used to know. Last time I saw him it nearly killed me; His eyes were dull, showing signs of much deprived sleep and his smile was twisted into a vacant frown. He had been crying._

_You know why? _

_My father faked my own death. But I wanted to hug Netto and tell him everything was okay. I wanted to be there for him, 'cause you see, he was the one who was always there for me. I'd put on a false front to everyone at work, at home…and they all knew it. But none of them cared anyways. To them, I was the president's son; the vice president, and nothing more. _

_But to Netto, I was Ijuuin Enzan, spoiled little brat, excellent net battler, rival, and a friend. HAH! Get that! A friend. _

_The only time I admitted that Hikari Netto was my friend, was to Sarena. He called. I wonder if he was looking for me? I never found out. _

_I would tell people that he and I were rivals, but I would never walk out to say he was my friend. My, I must've been feeling emotional that day with Sarena. _

But deep down, I know its true. I do consider him a friend. After all…he's the only one besides my step sister that really knows me. He's the only one who voluntarily and continually pried at my walls, tried so hard to get under my skin, and to see the person inside.

_Get this. He tried to, and he did. His antics have even sparked a smile out of me on a number of occasions. Imagine that._

"Red, you going to drop it or what? We can't sit here all day!" A grunt came from the pilots seat, awakening Enzan out of his reminiscent trance.

"Right" He nodded _God spare my soul… _His thumb pressed a trigger, dropping a small sphere to the ground.

As they reached a safe distance, he watched his timer count down the seconds of impending doom.

_3…_

_2…_

_1…_

Enzan watched as fire billowed into the sky, like a dragon rising from an ocean of death.

That's it…It's done.

He fell back in his seat, wiping the sweat from his forehead and running a gloved hand through his current all-black hair.

"Get your stuff ready. You know the drill."

"Which means I don't need reminder, Kotyro." Enzan grunted

"You should be happy."

"Yeah, sure."

Kotyro rolled his eyes. "Why so sad, Red? The plan worked flawlessly. You deactivated the alarm system, cut emergency fighter connections, cut his phone connections, e-mail capabilities and got rid of the old hag once and for all. And because you're supposedly dead, they can't blame you for a thing."

"Being dead isn't so fun, chief."

"So you gonna stick around with us?"

Enzan sighed "Where else do I have to go?"

Kotyro laughed.

I hate when he does that…even though we're serving justice, he sounds like the sadistic freaks I used hunt down; The ones who'd get a kick outa' death.

"Well you definitely don't have that place anymore, that's for sure. All your friends probably think you're dead!" Kotyro laughed again "Tell anyone you're Ijuuin Enzan, and they'll probably have you arrested for treason!"

"Yeah…"

"Alright Red, we're coming up on the ocean here. The helicopter is set to auto pilot to the middle of the ocean, and crash there, but we'll jump out 500 Km before the shore."

"I told you, you don't need to remind me."

"Just making sure. You seem a bit flaky tonight. We don't need you dyin' on us for reals now."

"yeah yeah, whatever." Enzan checked the straps on his parachute before they set out sky-diving.

"On my count…One…Two…THREE!"

The two young men went careening through the black night, allowing the parachutes to gently land them on green grass. After quickly folding up their life-lines, they located a dark blue van parked along side the road. A black haired girl came to greet them as they made their way toward the vehicle.

"If only I could have seen the flames." She looked at Enzan concerned. "You okay? You look like you saw a ghost."

"I've never a killed a person before. Much less multiple people…There were innocent servants in that house!" He cried out, staring at the ground.

Sarena frowned then quickly pulled him into an embrace. "I know, Enzan. I know."

The boy didn't return the hug, but let his weak body fall into her arms instead. Emotionally, physically, mentally…he didn't have the capacity to function any more.

"And I've lost everything. I can't go back now."

"We promised we'd let you go after this." She said, stepping back, but her hands placed firmly on his upper arms to keep him steady. "We know how to get you a fake ID and any kind of work you want in the city. You can start over new if you'd like."

"Yeah…sure…"

**00000000**

"Netto-Kun! Wake up! You have to see this!"

"hrrgh…Rockman, just let me sleep. You know I hate waking up…"

"It's the Ijuuin residence! Someone bombed it last night!"

The brunette sat straight up and flung his legs out of bed. Quickly throwing on a shirt, he ran downstairs to see his mother gaping at the television in horror.

On the screen, debris lay scattered on a desolate ground. If one squinted, they still wouldn't have been able to recognize the once existing mansion.

"…Fortunately, Ijuuin Shuuseki had been informed of the assassination plot, and was able to clear out the house a few hours before the bomb went off. As for who's to blame for the attack, authorities suspect the net terrorists Vengeance are responsible for this act of crime, but there has been no confirmation yet."

The whole Hikari residence seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

"How horrible! First his son dies and then Vengeance tortures him to no end!" Haruka sighed.

Netto clenched his fist. "I'll get whoever did this…If it's the last thing I do…" he growled "Stupid net terrorists. Always going after the people closest to me… first my family, then my friends, and now their families. This has got to stop!"

"What can we do though? We don't even know who's the leader of Vengeance, the only thing we know is their insignia." Rockman questioned.

"We'll find out the leader."

"You're not going to do anything." Haruka interrupted. "I'm not going to risk loosing you anymore."

Netto sighed. He knew his mother would not back down when it came to these issues.

Just proves I have to find a way around it.

Turning around, the brunette made his way up the stairs to get dressed and ready for another day. The dark rings under his eyes, and his pale face showed he wasn't ready for it, but of course, the world never stops turning for one seemingly insignificant individual.

"Netto-kun…" Rockman protested near silently. He knew the boy was not going to obey his mother. Not when terrorists were well…terrorizing his friends.

"What?!" Netto snapped, slipping off his pajama shirt and sliding on a new one.

Rockman sighed. "Where are you going to look?"

"I don't know, alright? I just need to get out and get some fresh air. I can't think."

"Oh…" was the solemn response the blue navi gave.

"I still don't think the car crash he died in was such an accident after all. Enzan and I had too many enemies for it to be 'accidental.'"

After receiving breakfast, Netto walked hurriedly out the door, as if he were going to find answers in the perfectly blue sky. He walked to the park, which gave a sense of solace in his times of trouble. Sitting on the hard wooden bench, Netto stared into the distance, thinking about everything and nothing at all.

'I can't believe he's gone…' the boy sighed mentally, but whimpered out loud. Cradling his head in his hands, silver tears escaped his eyes and ran down his arms as his hands covered his eyes.

"Enzan…"

**0000000**

A boy with jet black hair meandered the streets, looking for a new home, a new place to settle down in and start a new life. As he walked past a small quaint park, he noticed a familiar face sitting on a bench with his back arched and his head in his hands.

"Netto…"

Out of impulse, the watching teen approached the brunette.

"Hey Hikari, you sure kick up a fuss."

Netto snapped his head towards the towering stranger.

'Those words…those exact words…It's what he said to me after I lost Rockman to the life virus. And him…only he calls me Hikari…NO, my mind is playing tricks. Enzan doesn't dress that way. His hair is different. The two tones of black and white, they're not here."

"Who're you?"

"He's not dead."

"What? of course he is! I saw him in a casket! Wait…" Netto paused "How do you know who I'm talking about?!"

"You're talking about Ijuuin Enzan, am I correct?"

Netto clenched his fist. He was sure he found his first Vengeance member. "What do you know about his death!?"

"Well I know for one that it was all faked by Ijuuin Shuuseki. That Enzan is really alive, and faking his death was Enzan's father's way of getting his son out of the way, so his step son could take over position as vice president."

Netto stood up and swung at the stranger. Fortunately, the young man had been in this position before, and was able to block the hit.

"Jesus, do you always have to try to kill me?"

Oops…

Netto's eyes widened "You?"

Enzan sighed. "Yeah. Me."

"You're dead!"

The black haired boy let out an exasperated sigh. If there was one thing Enzan had forgotten about Netto, was the density of the brunette's brain.

"And your hair is all black! And you never wear those clothes.'

"Netto, welcome to the real world. It's called hair dye. And I have to wear these clothes. They're good for street mobility."

The brunette stared at the ground, then at the stranger, then the ground again. Enzan sighed, waiting to see how long it would take until it all finally sunk through Netto's thick skull.

"So you're really Enzan?"

Enzan cracked a smile "Would I lie to you, Hikari?"

Netto crossed his arms "Then how did your father fake your death?"

"Were you born yesterday? All he needed was a funeral procession to make the whole world think I was dead!"

He's sarcastic like Enzan…I gotta test him. to make sure.

"Alright, prove to me that you're Enzan. How did I defeat fireman at the volcano?"

Enzan smirked. He had never forgotten the brunettes words of wisdom that day, though it scared him that Netto knew that. But it was good test—Enzan was the only person with him in that battle, and there was no one else that coul've survived being in the same area. "Fight fire with fire. You used a salamander chip to become hotter than the lava, and get fireman out of it."

Netto's eyes grew wide, along with a goofy, happy smile that seemed awkward on his pale face. Within seconds, arms were wrapped around Enzan in an embrace

"You're alive!" The thick headed boy exclaimed, burying his face in Enzan's chest

"I told you!" Enzan rolled his eyes, blushing from embarrassment, but smiling at Netto's happiness.

"Where have you been?!" the brunette hopped back, the life restored to his happiness.

"Well geeze. When the old man decides to kick me out of the family, and fake my death, saying that I'm Ijuuin Enzan receives me a lot of scowls."

"Why did he…?"

"I have a step brother. My father kicked me out of my own apartment, and fired me on a moments notice, so he could give it all over to him. My father had no use for me in the family, and so a way to get rid of me without the press knowing and making him look bad was to fake my death."

Netto shook his head. "That's horrible. Why would he replace you with your step-brother?"

"I'm starting to think it was because I was becoming too soft. I met my step-brother once. He was just as rude and stuck up as I used to be."

The brunette crossed his arms "That's a lame excuse. What's wrong with being soft? Being personable makes for better company communications. Your father should've known that!" he added a smirk, "Besides, I'd hardly call you soft."

Enzan sighed. "If he doesn't need someone, he doesn't care about them at all."

"To think I felt sorry for the man this morning. Now I wish he had gottten blown up."

The black haired boy froze. Time seemed to stop during those few minutes of shock "He didn't?" he asked, his voice near whispering.

Netto shook his head. "No, the news reporters said that the house was evacuated an hour before the bomb went off. He had hints that someone was going to attack."

The blue eyes grew wide. 'Kuso…' Enzan set his hands on Netto's shoulders and looked the boy square in the eyes. "I have to get going, but promise me one thing."

The brunette nodded confusedly, his cheeks burning with a soft pink, mainly from being stared at by a pair of deep cerulean eyes.

"Promise me that you will not tell anyone that you know I'm alive."

"Promise." Netto responded. Enzan turned to walk away, but was stopped. "Hey, where are you going?"

The older boy turned, the wind gently dancing through his black hair, "I can't say. But if you're smart, which I know deep down you are, you'll figure it out soon enough."

Netto frowned. "Hey! Are you implying something?"

Enzan smirked and flicked a bit of hair out of his face as he walked away. "Figure it out, Hikari."

The younger boy clenched his fists, about ready to go after him. But realizing that he was even able to be teased by his rival once again made him put his guard down and smile. "Will I see you again?" He called out once again.

Enzan paused and smiled, though he did not turn around. "I do hope so."

Netto just stood there, watching as his rival walked out of sight. He then collapsed on the bench, leaning his head back and staring at the sky. He hadn't realized it, but his heart was pounding.

I can't believe it…he's alive! He really is alive! God, I'm so happy…

Why am I so happy? He just insulted me like he always does. Oh right. Because it's better to be insulted by him, than to have him be dead.

Why is my heart beating so fast though? When he looked me in the eyes, It felt like my soul melted….

I did not just say that.

Alright, so maybe I did. I'm probably just happy he's back. Yeah, that's it. Besides, he does have nice eyes. Any soul could've melted under those circumstances.

Oh give up, Netto. You know you're attracted to him. Right or wrong, you know you are….

Yeah, I am…. I'm in love with Ijuuin Enzan.

**00000000**

"Sarena, do tell me you've seen the news today?"

"No, why?"

"Get this. Someone informed Shuuseki of our plan, and gave him an hour to evacuate."

There was silence on the phone. "You're kidding."

"I wish I were. Looks like I'm not off the team yet."

"It would appear that way, wouldn't it?" Sarena sighed. "Alright, meet back at our base. I'll call a meeting for our red team."

"Got it." Enzan replied, then hung up the phone. As he walked down the streets, he shaded his eyes with dark sunglasses, and began to devise a strategy to take down Shuuskei once and for all. After all, it was his job.

Vengeance had three main sectors: Blue, Green, and Red. Being so close to Sarena and so skilled at strategizing missions, it was only a short time after he joined the group that he was deemed commander of the Red team. His men, and some women, were all basically from the same age range; The youngest were only twelve, but the oldest were about 21. People underestimated the mind power and determination of their generation's youth.

Who the hell warned my father? Do we have a leak in our team? A dark red shirt and torn navy jeans thought as he weaved in and out hastily through densen's crowd.

Deep brown eyes followed his every move.

**0000000**

you may have noticed that we took off the next few chapters up to chapter nine. This is because with nine chapters, we only had four reviews. Seeing as someone finally reviewed chapter four, we are now posting this chapter. We're serious. We NEED reviews. We live on reviews like food. Without it, the story just dies or suffers from serious malnutrition. So if you want to see chapter six, we suggest you review. :D

Thanks you,

The LightningStar Duo (Arisa & Icy)


	6. Chapter 6: Realizations

**Last Time**: Vengeance finally drops the ball, literally, on the Ijuuin residence.

Netto awakes to see the mansion is torn to shreds, and takes a walk to clear his

thoughts, only to find out Enzan is alive! After a cute reunion, Netto muses

about his feelings for the other, and Enzan realizes his father escaped

Vengeance's attack. As he calls for a team red meeting, a pair of eyes follows

the boy…

**Chapter 6**: Realizations

"Alright, so we located Shuuseki's whereabouts, and pinpointed him to the Black

Rose hotel." Blue eyes announced, circling around a table of about ten to

fifteen males and females. "Security is immense in the area, so we have to get

him out of there."

"Your plans, sir?" A voice called out nervously

"He and his family has dinner every Thursday night with the Cromisson's at the

Medieval Knights restaurant. I checked their reservations, and tables are still

set on schedule. Apparently the man isn't too upset about loosing his property."

Enzan took a deep breath and continued to announce his plans. "We will have one

of you disguised as a chauffer, ready to pick them up after their meal, that

will be tainted with sleeping poison. Then they will be taken to the our

location here," Enzan pointed to a holographic map, "And since team red is all

about explosives, dynamites will be installed, ready to go off after our team

evacuates."

He walked behind a red headed girl. "Yukira, You have gotten the job at the

Medieval Knights restaurant, correct?"

"Correct, sir."

"You are of course in charge of tainting the food." He explained, then walked

behind another member.

"Hiroko, you have the limousine line set up so you will be transporting the

family, correct?"

"Correct, sir."

As he walked to another member, his shoes on the tile floor cut through the

weighted silence. "Nekim, Sokyo, and Ayshuya, you three are in charge of

planting the explosives. You have the equipment, correct?"

"Correct sir."

"Miroke, you are in charge of transporting our explosives and teammates to and

from the base, correct?"

"Correct, sir."

"The rest, you are watchers, making sure no one interferes with our plans and

prompting those mentioned to carry out their missions. You all know your

positions, correct?"

An monotonous echo filled the room "Correct, sir."

Enzan walked back to the head of the table and addressed his teammates

informally. "Everyone…our day of justice is almost here. It's sad that so many

have to become involved, but because of our former member, who informed shuuseki

of our attack, we have to redo this mission. Taking another man's life is not

easy…It will be with you forever. If any of you want to back out of this mission

now, the door is wide open. But if you choose to stay with the plan, you will be

doing years of justice."

He watched as eyes darted at each other, and smiled as no one moved an inch.

"Thank you. This mission is very close to Captain Sarena and I, so we appreciate

your loyalty."

**0000000**

"Where the heck are we?" A brown haired teen whispered as he crept around the

side of an old building.

"It's an old high school that was burned down and supposedly filled with toxic

gasses." Rockman responded as he looked up the coordinates and description.

"Why would Enzan come here?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think we should be following him either."

"Oh please. And risk loosing him again?"

"If I'm not mistaken, he never did die, so again doesn't fit here."

Netto rolled his eyes, scanning the doors with his PET to see if any of them had

an electronic lock that'd be easy to break through. "You know what I mean."

Quietly tiptoeing to the nearest door, which his analysis system showed was the

least guarded one, Netto sent the skeptical blue navi into the lock's cyber

matrix.

After dealing blows to various viruses that protected the barriers, Netto used a

chip that he had gotten long ago. The insignia on the chip was a pink circle

with a yellow triangle at the top, which transformed Rockman with a "roll-soul."

After transforming, Rockman placed the yellow antennae onto each barrier,

quickly decoding them and entering the passwords necessary to open the lock.

After hearing a click in the door, the navi logged out and Netto cautiously

stepped inside.

"It looks empty…" Netto whispered

"Not by my temperature radar. There's an widespread amount of heat on the upper

level, all at about 98.6 degrees."

"Which is normal body temperature. Good thinking. Can you get a map of the

building?"

Rockman began to type on a number of screens, then shook his head. "No, it's too

old…" he paused upon finding an old blue print. "I take that back. Go down the

hallway you're in and take your first right. At the end of that hallway should

be a set of stairs."

"Hai." Netto nodded then took the directions given.

**0000000**

"Enzan?" A female voice called out from a walkie-talkie strapped to Enzan's

belt.

"Hai, Sarena?"

"We've got an intruder in the building. They took out the lock system in 27.2

seconds. The surveillance shows that he doesn't seem threatening, however. Just

a curious kid."

"Oh? And what would you like me to do about the situation?"

"Could you convince the intruder to leave?"

"I'm not sure that's safe for me to do right now."

"I'll have Kotyro take care of it instead."

"I think that'd be best." Enzan responded, then tucked away the device. On a

holographic screen, he pulled up the surveillance camera, only smack his head in

frustration.

Netto, you baka!

**0000000**

"Now where to?" Netto asked as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Go straight then-"

"hey you!" a gruff voice called out, approaching Netto.

"Uh…uh…" Netto froze

"What're you doing here?!"

"I…I followed my friend here sir."

Kotyro crossed his arms. "Your friend, eh? Which friend?"

"En…"

'_promise me that you will not tell anyone that you know I'm alive.'_

"…nero. My friend Enero."

"Huh, well, I haven't seen any kids in here. But you best be getting out of

here. I've been doing some gas tests, and this place isn't suitable to be

loitering around in."

Spotting the man's PET and a familiar insignia, All the puzzle pieces began to

fit in place.

'_I'm on Vengeance's territory. That's why Enzan seem to have disappeared, and_

_that explains the attack on the Ijuuin residence. It also explains why he ran_

_off when I told him his father survived. Enzan is a member of Vengeance! '_

"Well…actually…I lied a bit."

"oh?"

"I've been interested in net terrorism."

Kotyro crossed his arms. "All the more reason why you better get outa here."

"Why? You're Vengeance, aren't you?"

Realizing he had been caught, Kotyro gave a cold gaze to Netto. "That depends.

Who are you?"

"Someone who's interested in joining your team."

"How'd you find our base?"

"I told you. I followed someone." Netto replied indignantly, but nervously.

"Who?"

"I really don't want to risk their rep. It's not their fault I followed them

here."

"I won't say anything. I just want to know who so I can know you're telling the

truth." Kotyro shifted his weight as he still had his arms crossed.

"En…" Netto cringed 'forgive me, Enzan.', "Enzan."

"How the hell do you know he's alive, kid?"

"I ran into him earlier today. He thought his father was gone, but when I told

him the man was still alive, he came back here, and I followed him."

"What's your name?"

"Is that really important?" Netto backed away, about fall down the stairs if he

took a bad step.

"Yes. What is your name?"

"N-Netto."

Inside his PET, Rockman smacked his forehead. For having dealt with so many net

terrorists, his operator was acting pretty amateur.

Kotyro sighed, pulling out his walkie-talkie. "Oh captain red, you have a

visitor."

"I'm watching surveillance, I see. Send him in." Netto recognized the voice, and

bit his lip.

'_Captain?'_

"C'mon, kid. Follow me." Kotyro beckoned him with a nod of his head and turned

around.

Upon arriving, Kotyro stood at the door, while Netto nervously entered. The

older man gave him a unreadable expression, leaving the brunette nervous as what

to expect. As he entered, he saw Enzan sitting at a rectangular table and look

up at Netto.

"Why did you follow me?" the sitting teen asked

"Well I was curious to see where you've been hiding out for the past few months.

I never expected to waltz onto Vengeance's home base though." Netto crossed his

arms "Are you out of your mind?!"

"Look, Vengeance is about serving justice to the people of high position, who

use their powers to do wrong. People like my father."

"I mean, I know he kicked you out, but murdering him for that? What did he do so

horribly wrong?" Netto asked infuriated

"More than you know, Netto." He sighed and motioned to a seat with his eyes.

"Sit down."

Netto did so, but never took his annoyed gaze off of Enzan. "What's gotten into

you? These are the people we fight, not ally with!"

"No. Listen to me. My father has been able to cover up so much with his position

of power. Such as the murder of my mother."

Netto gaped, taking in the heavily silenced air, then breaking it with his

words. "He killed your mother?"

Enzan nodded. "And her ex-husband. He then covered it up to look like both died

from a heart attack. No one questioned him. That's why I said earlier, he's

heartless to the people he doesn't need."

"Why? Why did he kill her?"

"My half sister and I have been doing research. We're pretty sure that it goes

back to a long, dark, family secret she was going to expose, along with her

ex-husband."

"You have a half sister too?"

"Yes, and my father killed both of her parents."

"What kind of secret was he hiding?"

"Something along the lines of cultic genocide that took place centuries ago. If

word got out that our family was involved in that, it would damage my father's

reputation and wound his business. You see, the only reason he married my mother

was so he could have a son to take over the company. After they began to get in

repeated arguments, she threatened to release the secret to the press, and

apparently her ex knew about it too."

"Why did your father get remarried then?"

Enzan shrugged "To have another son. Apparently, I didn't inherit his sadistic

genes, and thus he had to have a son who did, so they could carry on the evil."

"So this is all to get revenge?" Netto asked

"Why do you think we're called Vengeance?"

"But why do you attack normal every day civilians with viruses?"

"Those viruses are usually set for a certain family, but they spread it to

others, who spread it to others, and cause a virus pandemic." Enzan sighed.

"Blame the evils, not us."

"Why didn't you go to the police about your father?"

"My sister went to them, she saw him shoot her parents. But the officials didn't

believe her. When she went back to show the them the dead bodies, someone had

come in and cleaned up. They assumed she was just an abandoned child looking for

attention, and put her in an orphanage." He sighed "From then on, everything was

swept under the rug."

Netto sat still as a stone. "So I guess Vengeance isn't the bad guys after all."

Enzan smirked "Depends on who you ask."

The shocked brunette stared at the table with an emotionless expression. "How

can I help?"

"Don't mention a word of this to anyone. Not your parents, nobody. They'll only

get upset. You've had first hand experience with my father; you know how

heartless he can be. Others don't see that."

"I want to help assassinate him." Netto said bluntly.

Enzan snorted at Netto's ignorant comment and shook his head "No, you don't. You

have no idea what it's like to take another person's life, even if it's for

justice. I don't want you to have to live with that feeling."

"He hurt my friend with sickening ease, alright? I can't let that go. That's

where it became personal. I want revenge for that." Netto slammed his fist on

the table, nearly making Enzan jump. The older boy could see Netto's dark

chocolate eyes were burning with ambition. Finding himself fixated on the deep

sea of passionate hatred, Enzan got up and walked over to a window, staring out

it in thought.

"I'll get revenge for you then."

"I am coming with you." Netto spoke firmly, getting up from his seat and walking

over to the window along side his friend.

"I can't let you."

"You have to!" Netto exclaimed

Enzan bit his lip, taking in a deep breath. He turned and set his hands on

netto's shoulders, and dared to look at the deep brown eyes that had transfixed

him once before. "You are one of the few close friends I have. I can't lose you.

I won't."

Netto's heart raced as he stood inches away from his beloved. Enzan just

basically told him that he cared for him, and that…was music to his ears.

"Enzan…" He whimpered, throwing himself into an embrace. "I don't want to lose

you either," came the muffled reply from Enzan's chest.

The black haired teen could feel a warm liquid seeping through his shirt against

his chest, and it only took seconds to figure out that Netto was crying. Enzan

stood there shocked, not sure what to do, and so he let his natural instincts

guide him. He wrapped his arms around the boy and lightly patted his back in

effort to calm him down.

"Once this is over, I'm leaving Vengeance. We made a deal when I joined. I help

my sister get revenge on Shuuseki, and once we do, I leave without saying

anything about them, and they don't say anything about me. I'll start over under

a new name." Enzan held the boy closer and whispered. "I won't be here much

longer."

Netto pulled away, looking down, embarrassed from the tears in his eyes and

blush on his face. "Promise?"

Enzan used his index finger and lifted Netto's chin, so their eyes could meet.

"Promise."

The brunette stared into the deep oceanic orbs of blue. To him they were so…so

beautiful. He was just about to lean his head forward, when there was a knock on

the door. Enzan immediately snapped his hand back by his side and allowed the

interrupter to enter.

"So have we reached an agreement?" A black haired girl entered, leaning against

a wall.

"My friend understands completely, and will say nothing about vengeance's

whereabouts."

Netto nodded in agreement, wiping his face in effort to rid himself of tears and

blush.

"I see. So you do have something to look forward to after this, ne?" she asked

Enzan smiled. "I guess so."

"It'll be a shame to see you go, but I'm glad you have a friend you can turn

to."

"Me too, Sarena."

"Is…is she your half sister?" Netto asked meekly, realizing he was somewhat

interrupting the two.

Enzan nodded. "Yes. Sarena, this is Hikari Netto, Netto, this is Sarena."

"Ah, Hikari Netto-san. Your father is a researcher at sci-lab, correct?"

Netto nodded. "I've had the pleasure of meeting him once. He's a good man. All of them are, at

sci-lab. You must be proud." She smiled. Netto knew the subliminal message was

to reassure him that sci-lab would not be attacked at all.

"I am." Netto looked down. "I'm sorry if I caused any disturbance. After finding

out that Enzan was alive, I was just wondering where he had been hiding out all

this time. I really didn't expect to find Vengeance's home base."

"I understand." Sarena nodded. "After finding out a deceased loved one is

actually alive, I'm sure one would not be anxious to part with them, ne?"

Netto felt his face flush at the mention of 'loved one', but played it off as a

term of friendship. "Yeah, I'm just glad he's alive."

"Well I'm sorry for interrupting, I just wanted to check on the situation.

Enzan, would you mind escorting Netto-san out of the building when you have

finished talking?"

"Sure."

"It was nice to meet you. I'm glad at least one civilian realizes the true

purpose of our team."

Netto didn't respond, but merely nodded as the black haired beauty exited the

room, leaving the two teens alone once again.

"Well…I suppose I should get going. Seems like you have a lot to do and I'd just

get in the way." Netto began to walk towards the door, while Enzan just leaned

against the windowsill with his arms crossed

"Please tell me you don't really think that, right?"

Netto stopped in his tracks, then turned and smirked. "No, but you know as well

as I that I can be a real pain in the butt."

Enzan shook his head and chuckled, which surprised the brunette, and walked

towards him. "Sometimes. But don't ever think your presence is 'getting in the

way'. In fact, I…" Enzan trailed off as he stood next to the brunette and looked

away, not sure how to phrase what he wanted to say.

"Yes…?" Netto asked, waiting anxiously for the other to finish his statement.

"I kinda missed it." That's an understatement…

"Yeah, no kidding. All this time I thought you were dead. I would've settled for

being able to be yelled at by you once more." Netto grinned. "Now I'm going to

be able to be yelled at a hundred times over, and surprisingly, I'm looking

forward to it."

Enzan smirked. "Good. 'Cause I've got a lot of stress building up right now."

**00000000**

Arisa: Well First I'd like to thank all you reviewers who have, well, reviewed! I'm sorry this took so long to be uploaded, but my computer had a smash attack and I thought I had lost everything on it. (Thank god I didn't. My1997 mac laptop is just reaching the end of its days…)

Icy: Good thing you had a back-up copy on your real laptop.

Arisa: yeah, but word opens it really weird, and so everything is squished on one side, even though the margins are set properly. That and the fact all the spaces between paragraphs went missing, so I had to go back and fill those in.

Icy: Do you think we should upload two at a time so we can all get caught up?

Arisa: -chuckles nervously- Yeah, I guess I should take a writing break. n.n; I just started writing chapter 17 of this story XDD. Two at a time sounds good!

Icy: -immature giggle-

Arisa: x.x; eh, hehe. Review please! Thanks.


	7. Chapter 7: Renaissance of darkness

**Last Time:** Netto follows Enzan to find himself on enemy territory. Enzan explains his purpose for joining, and makes Netto realize that he's doing a justice, even if it's dangerous. Enzan then introduces him to Sarena, who reassures Netto that sci-lab will not be attacked.

**Chapter 7:** Renaissance of darkness

After returning to his room from walking Netto out of the building, Enzan closed his eyes, shut the door, and slid exhaustedly down the back of it. Remembering himself looking into the emotional eyes of the brunette made his stomach lurch slightly. What had he done? Enzan felt himself question not only his judgment but his sanity at acting so emotional around Netto. He realized how tender a gesture he had made by lifting the said Hikari's chin, and realized that it had been out of impulse.

That, in turn, made him question just why it had seemed so natural of a reaction? He closed his eyes and began to sort it out

_I've never acted like that around him before. I would have never dreamt of it. I've seen him cry millions of times, and not to mention most every time I've had a habit of kicking him while he was down_ . _But this…no…I guess it's just because he seemed so desperate. Like when he lost Rockman. Yeah, like that. I probably would have done the same thing then had we'd been good friends._

He sighed out loud. "God…what am I supposed to do?"

"Like I said. Get up, walk, and do something about your problems."

Enzan jumped slightly, realizing the alternate presence in the room.

"Jesus you scared me."

Sarena approached from the other corner of the room then seated beside him. "Hun, I scare a lot of people." Her reply of course, was not absent of a knowing smirk.

"Gee, I wonder why." He breathed out heavily, shaking off the stark agitation in his veins.

"So what's today's dilemma? Might it have something to do with Netto-san?"

"That's putting it lightly."

"Indulge me." She said, folding her hands over her knees and speaking with genuine interest.

"Well…Netto's always been a rival to me. We didn't always get along, and we hated each other when we first met. Over the time we got to know one another, it seemed like he became more mature, and I more friendly. Today I went to find him, thinking that I could finally talk to him again as I assumed Shuuseki was dead, and I saw that he was crying over my 'death'. You should have seen how happy he was that I was alive." Enzan smiled, an act he had taken to since the earlier morning's encounter.

"and…?" she asked, sensing he had more to say.

"Then of course, after he told me my father was alive, I came here, and he followed. When I promised him I would leave vengeance after my mission was over, I felt closer to him than I had ever felt before."

"Was that right before I came in?"

Enzan nodded. "Yeah, why?"

Sarena smirked. "I'm surprised, Ijuuin-san-"

"Please don't call me that." Enzan smacked his head against the door, causing it to thump loudly, and rolled his eyes

"Sorry." She said quickly then continued, "I'm surprised, _Enzan,_ with your ability to put together just about any puzzle, you haven't figured this one out. Did you see his face before I came in?"

"Yes, I was nearly staring at it. Why?"

"What color were his cheeks? What was in his eyes? Please tell me you noticed that he was obviously feeling as flustered as a school girl who just had her first kiss."

Enzan was silent for a moment as he stared at Sarena. "You don't think he…"

"Is in love with you? Yes, I do," noticing he was about to speak, she placed a gentle fingertip to his lips to quiet him and continued, "and I think you feel the same way about him."

He stared into her sparkling violet eyes with the turmoil and happiness which her words had caused him to feel. "You're…kidding…"

She simply smiled and shook her head. "I'm happy to say I'm not. Love was never given a gender. Who are we to change that?" Taking his hand in hers, she stroked it lovingly like a mother. "If you love him, you've got to let him know."

Enzan sighed. "You make it sound like that's easy."

"Life is never easy. That's why it's so wonderful," She watched as he gave her a confused glance, then continued, "because the hard and difficult times make us come to appreciate the simple and easy tasks we often take for granted."

He nodded then changed the subject "I wish I had met you long ago."

Sarena laughed. "Because I'm non-judgmental when it comes to love?"

"That, and I had always wanted a sibling. Whenever my father was away, it got lonely at our house. Well…I take that back. It was always lonely at my house, whether he was there or gone. Blues was really the only person I could talk to."

"Shuuseki should've known." She sighed with an 'I-told-you-so' tone.

"Known what?" Enzan immediately replied

"That he wouldn't be able to keep us apart forever."

"Why do you say that?"

She smiled and shrugged. "We're blood children of a woman who was murdered unjustly. It only makes sense that it has become our destiny to avenge her death."

Enzan shook his head. "I don't believe in destiny."

"Really? You will. Some day." She pulled her knees close to her and wrapped her arms around them. "You'll realize that destiny is a part of all of us. I can already see that it's come to you for love and revenge."

He looked at her curiously. Enzan knew exactly what she meant, but for some reason, it made no sense at all. "Perhaps I just have difficulty with the subject of destiny, but I guess I don't understand."

"When you finally get to hold Netto-san in your arms, you will." She said with a hint of teasing in her voice.

Enzan felt his face flush at her comment then cleared his throat. "About that…I'd really prefer if no one else knows how I feel."

Sarena smiled "Don't worry, I figured as much. Your secret's safe with me."

The moments they shared in silence were filled with a pair of completely opposite thoughts.

**0000000**

Later that night, Sarena found herself restless. Every attempt to doze off was interrupted by the slightest creak of the room, any ethereal noise thought to be from outside, and the plain fact that a certain unspeakable sadness was plaguing her mind. It's secrecy was spoiled to her alone, but even then she constantly tried to shear the thought from her mind.

It can't be…I won't let it be. It's not…

_It is._

Finally tossing the thin sheets off of her bed in frustration, she stepped outside for a breath of air. The bleak chill that whispered upon her skin was the sign of autumn's impending capitulation to the impatient winter. Fixing her brilliant yet austere violet eyes on the Scorpion moon, she shivered while capturing the crisp air into her lungs.

"_Mommy…who's that?"_ A little black haired, seven year old girl stared with curious innocent eyes at the picture of a toddler located in the older woman's wallet.

'_That's your half-brother, Enzan.' _She replied, smiling at the girl who sat next to her, drinking a vanilla milk-shake.

'When can I meet him mommy?'

The mother sighed, knowing her husband had no intention of letting his son mingle with- in his words- 'such an uneducated child'. He hadn't said it directly, but in his soliloquist musings she had over heard him say the cruel words. Their relationship was declining rapidly, and she knew it would probably be a matter of months, maybe days before they would agree on a divorce.

The only sadness that came from such was the fact it would be her second one. In truth, she still loved her first husband, Takyamuta Hiroke, but seeing the devastating affect their separation had left on her first child, Sarena, made her uneasy about leaving Ijuuin Shuuseki. The child she had bore after marrying him was just as precious as the first, and it killed her to think of what consequence a divorce would have on her younger child.

'_mommy?'_

The woman snapped out or her thoughts to answer the prodding child. _'Someday you'll meet him, Sarena,' _she said, ruffling the black hair of her daughter,_ 'Someday.'_

And she had.

Her mother, wisest of all wise, sweetest of all sweet, and so demonically murdered, was right. She, Takyamuta Sarena, had finally met her half brother, and it seemed they shared a deep bond. But something wasn't right. She felt like a navi installed with the wrong program, with a bug in the system. The connection she felt with her brother just wasn't making sense the way it was supposed to.

It's not…I won't let it be…

The 23rd of November had arose the next day. The dawn with her rosy cheeks spread out her arms to embrace a new day of bustling lives. A couple more days and the ultimate scheme would be carried out against the 'new and improved' Ijuuin family; The sick and twisted people that maimed the very description of family. Everything was set, and all that was left was for the few conspirators to wait patiently for the time of revenge to come.

With his senses alert, Enzan heard nearly silent footsteps approach him from behind. He leaned on short wall that protected him from taking a false step off of the roof he was located on.

"Only two more days." A quiet feminine voice broke through the monotonous tone of the young men and women of vengeance chanting to their training. "It's almost surreal, isn't it?"

Still subconsciously staring at the people who moved around like ants on a mission, he nodded. "Completely. It makes me feel sick. I always chased down the people who killed others, but I never killed anyone myself. It's the same feeling felt when I bombed the mansion. It's going to be hard to be able to live with myself after this."

Sarena stood behind him and rested her head on his shoulder as she patted his back. "We'll help you. You've got to remember that he deserves this."

"But what about Rukku and Otosha? They never murdered anyone."

Sarena sighed. "I wish there was a way we could eliminate Shuuseki without taking down the others, but it will only end up in tragedy for the rest of us if we don't."

He thought a moment, still staring at the people. "But that makes just as bad as him. He murdered my mother and your father because it would have ended up in 'tragedy' for him. There has to be another way." He spoke, standing up straight.

After a few seconds, she looked at him with a deftly serious expression. "You're right."

"I am?" he asked a bit surprised at her sudden change of mind.

"Yes. We'll call for a meeting and re-plan our strategy."

"In two days?"

"Vengeance can do anything."

"I sure as hell hope so." Enzan let out a sigh as he shook his head.

"There's no room for doubt on the team. You've got to have faith in our people." As she spoke sternly, the gentle air that rustled through her hair was the only softness present in their encounter.

"I do…it just seems like we've wasted getting our men and women into job positions for nothing. Now we have to start from scratch."

She shook her head. "No, we can still use them. We just have to edit out plans." Finally her stoic expression succumbed to a smile. "Don't worry." She brushed away a few strands of black hair dangling in his eyes with her soft fingertips. "Sorry, that was just bugging me."

"ah." He smiled quickly then turned to walk inside. As he took his PET from his holster, he noticed one slightly significant thing was missing:

Blues.

"It's been a while, my friend." A sinister voice bounced off the walls of pure darkness.

"Who are you?" the main soul called out through the black that surrounded him.

"You should know me well. I am the one of those you thought you could lock away. The ones you thought you could shut out with, oh what's that word? That's right. Human love. That pointless emotion." The voice cackled "You know what I mean. Emotions are useless. All that matters is justice, right? and power…you know you want that power."

He felt a surge of nostalgia rush through his core. Power…it once had been everything he strived for. Emotions of compassion and love…they once had never existed within him. Justice was what he was programmed to serve, and justice was what he lived for. Yes, that once had been the path he and Enzan took.

"Who are you?! Answer me directly!" Blues shouted out, not even able to see himself in the darkness, and demanded to know who was -though he wouldn't admit it- speaking such truth about his past.

Suddenly, he felt an adrenaline rush of intense power flow through him, accompanied by a darker, freer feeling he hadn't felt in years.

"It's me."

Blues couldn't speak. He had been given what seemed like only a drop of water in a desert, and left completely dissatisfied in the hot, dry hell.

"You want it, you know it. The dark power is always inside of you. One taste, that's all it takes to reawaken that addiction, isn't it?"

He couldn't respond, his throat was too parch to speak- something he had never felt before.

The deeper voice laughed. "Of course you can't speak. How foolish am I? Or should I rephrase that? How foolish is your little net-op? He really should keep you safer." crimson red eyes began to glow through the darkness as an unseen grin of malice creased the lips of the stranger. "Perhaps he doesn't really care about you…wouldn't it be a waste to give up this power just for someone who doesn't even care about you?"

Blues shuddered as a fingertip glided underneath his chin, leveling his eyes with the glowing red orbs.

The voice began to talk again "You know as well as I, that it's such a waste."

As if possessed in helpless hypnosis, the white-haired navi heard himself involuntarily begin to repeat the words of his captor. "Its…a…waste…"

"Yes it is…isn't it?"

"It is… Power…"

"You want it?"

Blues tried to seal his lips together. What were these words coming out of his mouth? Why couldn't he control any part of his body? He couldn't even tell if his whole body was there. All he knew was that he was speaking to a familiar darkness. But never the less, he was unsuccessful in keeping his fatal words inside.

"Yes, I do."

It then became clear that much of him was still intact. As his helmet was slid off, he felt his hair fall loose to his sides. Firm lips then pressed against his, and his mouth succumbed to the unfamiliar being. But the aura that surrounded him made Blues realize that this was no stranger; He knew who it was all too well.

For some reason, he couldn't pull away from the conqueror, and much to his dismay, part of him didn't want to. Energy tainted with the poison of darkness rushed through his body with every kiss, and he felt himself yearn to taste more. Being in the pitch black, however, made him realize he was at the mercy of his captor

Satisfied with the amount of potent evil that had infected Blues, the subjugator broke the kiss and whispered with a warm breath into his prisoner's ear "It is done, my love. Now go and unleash your power."

"When did you last talk to him?" Sarena asked with a hint of worry reflecting in her voice

"Last night. I didn't think he was awake when I woke this morning, so I didn't bother to say anything."

Sarena frowned. "Someone must be watching us."

"Do you think it's Shuuseki?"

"Judging by the fact he was nearly killed by us, I'd say he's a prime suspect." She shook her head. "How would he get access to your PET though?"

"Beats me. I have a 10x level of security on here." He looked at Blues' program information which displayed his status and energy levels no matter where he was. "He seems to be alright…wait…" Enzan clenched his fist, slamming it into the nearest wall. "Damnit!"

"what?"

"Look at his memory. 95 corrupted." The black haired boy bit his lip. Blues had been his friend ever since he could remember. Enzan, to this day, had felt regret for acting like a heartless jerk towards him during his younger years. He had nearly lost Blues once; he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he lost him for good this time.

"What?" Sarena looked at him confused. "I see that he's very infected with a virus, but what does that have to do with what's going on?"

"The only virus that has ever been able to corrupt Blues' memory is that of a dark soul."

Now she understood. Sarena could see the clear glaze forming over her brother's eyes and the tears that threatened to escape. One blink, and a tear got its way, rolling down the cheek of its creator. After gently wiping away the sign of sorrow, she pulled him into an embrace.

During one of their deep conversations, Enzan had told her about the time when Blues became overrun by a dark soul. Being well aware of the extensive measures that had been taken to rescue the quiet navi, Sarena understood why this recent turn of events succeeded in making her brother so upset.

"We'll get him back." She cooed calmly. "Don't worry."

The young man simply melted in her arms. Physically, emotionally, and mentally he was exhausted; this only served to tip him over the edge. Enzan knew she was right, but rescuing Blues would definitely hinder their mission. He swore to the gods, if this was Shuuseki's doing, that the man would die a brutal death.

After being brought to his senses and calmed, the younger sibling pulled away.

"Thanks." He sighed.

"No prob." She smiled warmly, gently patting his shoulder.

As he opened the door to walk back inside, they began to plan a strategy to find the missing navi.

"Being dark, his transmission signal is very vague, and sometimes impossible to read. If he reaches a close enough distance, however, I might be able to trace his whereabouts."

"Do you think pulling him back will be as difficult as it was before."

"I sure hope not. If we can trap or contain him, I know a person that can…dangit, that won't work."

"what were you thinking?" Sarena asked, following him into their main computer room.

"You know Netto's father, Dr. Hikari, correct?"

"I do."

"He created a series of programs after nebula was vanquished to purge the effects dark chips had on victims. Unfortunately, the navi has to be brought to the science labs in order for the process to take place. Also unfortunately, I'm supposed to be dead." He sighed, sitting down in a chair, and began to type away on a holographic key board.

"Do you think Netto would know how to handle the operation?" she asked, leaning on the back of his chair.

"I'm not sure. And first we would have to get Blues to the labs. That in itself is going to be one hell of a trip."

"Hm. Well, what do all darkloids have in common? What do they all want?" she asked, knowing the answer.

Enzan paused his typing. "Dark chips." He responded monotonously.

"Exactly."

"So we set out a pile of dark chips as bait, and hope he goes after it?"

"Putting it simply, yes." She shrugged. "Seeing as darkloids really don't have a purpose since regal, nebula and all that are gone, their only purpose is to live, and their only way to live is off of the dark chips."

"Unless a spawn of neo-nebula has arisen."

"We can take care of whoever's responsible for this afterwards. Right now, we need to focus on getting him back before the contamination becomes permanent."

"This is the worst it's ever been. If it's my-" Enzan was cut off by the phone on his PET ringing. Picking it up, a screen came up of Netto pulling on his hair frantically.

"Enzan!"

"Calm down Hikari, what's wrong?"

"It's Rockman! He's gone missing!"

**0000000**

Arisa: Thank god I was able to fix this one. I'm sorry chapter 6 was so sloppy in the formatting. If I had the time I would go back and fix it, paragraph by paragraph, but I really don't want to XD.

Icy: Lazy bum. . 

Arisa: v.v I know. But anyways. I hope y'all didn't mind this chapter too much. Personally, this one was my most favorite to write (Except for chapter nine, which you'll see later **IF** I get reviews :P ) But that's all! Like I said, review!


	8. A ‘Booster’ Chance at Reversal

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**Last Time: **Enzan sorts out his emotions with the help of Sarena, who secretly, is apparently having her own issues at coping with her new found relative. The next day arises to a new decision made on their plan to eliminate Shuuseki and the realization of two missing navi's.

**Warning:** This chapter contains some very graphic violence. If you don't like blood and gore, I suggest you skip to the end of the segment (characterized by the bold 0's) at the first sign of violence.

**0000000**

**Chapter 8: **A 'Booster' Chance at Reversal

"Calm down Hikari, what's wrong?" Enzan sighed, already over his head in stress.

"It's Rockman! He's missing!" Netto cried out, pulling on his hair in distress

The vengeance siblings exchanged glances. "Netto, when was the last time you saw him?"

"Last night before I went to bed! This morning I woke up and he was gone! He's not at the science labs and he won't answer any of my calls!"

"kuso…" Enzan cursed under his breath. The only way to find out if Rockman was in the hands of the same captor as blues, would be to view his stats. But doing so, Enzan realized, would very much upset the already-frantic brunette. "Netto…I need you to do something."

"Hai..."

"Look at rockman's memory status. What does it say?"

"Okay, hold on…" Netto finally took a rational breath and began to tap on his PET. Enzan felt his heart completely drop as the brunette's mouth began to drop open in confusion. "89 of his memory is corrupted. Why's he infected with a virus?"

"…Netto?"

"Yeah?"

"Get down here immediately. Blues has gone missing too, and his memory is corrupted as well, perhaps irreversibly. We might still be able to save Rockman."

"Wait, but isn't the only virus that can corrupt Blues…the darksoul?

Enzan was silent, but his expression said it all.

"It is…isn't it…" Netto's eyes seemed to lose their vibrancy as he felt as if he had lost a piece of himself.

Sarena spoke up, leaning over the black haired boy's shoulder "But we're going to get them back. Come down here and we'll plan out a strategy. Honestly, you two worry too much."

**0000000**

It was only a matter of minutes before his soul would be completely covered in darkness. The strength he had left in his body and mind was severely drained by the extraction of his best and most wonderful memories. They had been removed, and all that his captors had left him with were the painful and bitter fragments of his past. The source to resist the dark soul was weak, and so was he.

A weak and drowsy pair of eyes watched as another navi was brought and strapped down to the same type of table that was holding his own self down.

_Blues…_ he whispered with his mind. _They got you too? You've gotta fight… _His last thought was interrupted by a scream of agony . Every five or so minutes, he couldn't really tell, the pangs of pain caused by the crude source of dark power became worse. He could feel the goodness in his soul drowning, and the more he tried to resist it, the more excruciating it grew to be.

"Quiet you!" A navi hissed "You'll wake up your little friend over there. We don't want that, now do we? Just let the darkness in already, and then you'll be able to talk to him." The black blur then walked a few feet away, muttering something indecipherable.

Just as soon as he did, another guard navi joined that emitted a different aura. Rockman could just hardly see at this point, so using his 'darkness sensors', as Netto had once joked about, he could tell this new navi had a deeper aura, almost as if a higher rank.

"Has the first prisoner given in yet?"

"No sir, he's being quite stubborn."

"Use it."

"The…?"

Apparently the commanding navi gave a nod, or a yes. All the blue navi could hear after that was, "Yes sir. Summoning …. now."

Within seconds, the first unwilling blue prisoner was drawn into a deep slumber. His heart, however, was wide awake. He was drawn into a state where the emotional pain became physical, and the physical pain became mental.

"Well, if it isn't my old friend. Time to surrender, is it not?"

"No!" was Rockman's firm answer

"How unfortunate. I'll just have to make you give up by force then."

A sharp pain like raw, jagged diamonds of a thousand dark memories began tearing at his resistance.

He grunted, not sure where the sound came from. Looking down at his arm, which seemed to be in pain the most, he noticed it was flesh…real human skin. But unlike the softness and untainted look most humans possessed, this arm had multiple cuts, some going as deep into the muscle. As blood began to pour out the horrible gashes, he gripped it with his hand, only to realize his other arm was just as horrifyingly mutilated.

"Not going to give up yet?"

Rockman bit his lip to bear the pain. "No," he managed to say determinedly, despite his weak condition.

"Oh well, I'll just have to torture you a bit more then."

As they cast their threatening glares, vines with foot-long thorns arose from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. At the sound of a finger snap, the monstrous vines charged at him mercilessly. Being completely unclothed and unarmed, the thorns pierced his skin _everywhere. _Seeing the blood covered creature one make one wonder what kind of being was actually beneath the crimson liquid.

Shrills and screams of agony were heard, but in vain. With most of his precious memories deleted, Rockman could hardly remember why he was resisting. He knew he was facing a creature of the darkness, but the strength to forbear the tempting pull of evil was waning rapidly.

"Just give up! You have no point in resisting. You'll only cause yourself more damage before you seep into the depths of the abyss. The way you end is the way you are for the rest of your journey into the underworld, or what the humans call, the undernet. So if you want to end a disfigured pile of blood, I'll be happy to assist, but if I were you, I'd give up now."

_Forgive me Netto…forgive me everyone…I can't take anymore._

**0000000**

"What I don't understand is why they would go after Rockman as well? Whoever's doing this must have a source of dark chips. Either there were some chips left over, or someone has begun to create them again." Enzan paced around the room thoughtfully.

"Well we know that rules out Shuuseki." Sarena spoke up, sitting in a chair with one leg pulled close to her.

"Not quite." The musing Ijuuin shook his head. "My father can get connections with anyone, which includes those dark and evil…not that he's not evil enough already." He mumbled the last part.

"But capturing Rockman…he had no reason to do so." She responded.

"Yeah…" _there's no way he knows how I feel about Netto either._

"Exactly." Sarena agreed, making Enzan jump a bit. Noticing this, she laughed. "You're so predictable. With the face you made and what you told me yesterday, it was so obvious what you were thinking."

"Creepy." Netto spoke up, sitting in a chair next to Sarena in the computer room.

Enzan cleared his throat. "Anyways…" he started, giving his step-sister a certain look, "I've been able to get a few transmissions from Blues, but they're a bit inaccurate with the darksoul interfering. If we monitor Rockman's signals, we'll be able to compare his to Blues' and find out the general area of their whereabouts."

"Is there any way that it's not a dark soul?" Netto asked in hopeful thought.

Enzan stared at the ground. "It's _possible, _but not probable."

"How're we going to get them out of this? It would be one thing if I had Rockman, and we could save Blues, but with both of them in trouble, it's going to be practically impossible. And… and, what if someone's planning something? With our navi's power on the dark side, they'll be unstoppable!" Netto spoke quickly and frantically.

"Are you doubting the bond you have with Rockman, Netto?" Enzan looked at him skeptically.

_Oh yeah_. He'd forgotten about that. "Well no…but what if that doesn't work?"

"We'll at least be able to find out their weaknesses and plan a strategy once we come face to face." Sarena pointed out

"And if we don't make it out alive?"

"The vengeance crew will make sure you do. You two just worry about getting your navi's back." She reassured him. "Now times a wastin'. Enzan, you work on comparing the signals. Do you two know of anyone who'd be skilled at handling a darkloid?"

Enzan and Netto exchanged glances before nodding in unison and the brunette spoke up. "Yes…but he's in Sharro right now."

"And, I'm sure being in the military, it'd be tough to explain to him why I'm with vengeance, much less alive."

"Hm…" Sarena sighed out loud, until that is, she thought of an additional idea "Wait, do you remember when you told me about Dr. Hikari's reversal invention?"

"Oh yeah, that might work!" Netto exclaimed happily

"Not to be Johnny Raincloud or anything, but I'm supposed to be dead." Enzan sighed. "How would you explain Blues' going dark without my father there?"

"A lot of ways." The brunet grinned. "I'm an excellent story teller."

"A glorified way of saying you're a good liar." Sarena chuckled. "We could use that talent."

"No." was Enzan's _firm _answer as he cast her a glare.

"I was just saying!"

Watching the two argue, Netto smiled as he leaned over and whispered "I feel bad for you."

The black haired female just grinned. "Nah, I feel bad for you. You've known him longer."

Enzan gave her a sarcastic smile, which broke the tension with laughter. Solving the issue at hand, however, was soon resumed, and the normal mission-like atmosphere was restored.

"Anyways, I can take care of the reversal process. We'll just have to get Rockman and Blues to the labs late at night after all the workers are gone." Netto offered

"How're you going to get out of the house that late?"

"Easy. I'll just say I'm going over to Dekkao's house to sleep over or something. Don't worry about that. I just need a ride to sci-lab."

"We'll take care of that." Sarena smiled proudly. Enzan was about to speak when her face lit up with an idea. "Oh!"

"Yes?" The two young men asked in unison.

"IPC is going to be introducing their booster system tonight. If whoever's in charge of this has anything to do with nebula or the likes, they're going to want to get their hands on it."

"So that means most likely Blues or Rockman will show up." Enzan began to unravel their plan

"Which means one of us has to direct them to sci-lab." Netto finished up

"Exactly. Now, here's the deal…"

**0000000**

Before the end of the kiss, a white haired being felt his pure soul swallowed up and the immense power of malice flow through his every vein.

"It is done, my love. Go and unleash your power." A familiar voice beckoned as Blues, or what was left of him, felt harnesses around his wrists and feet let go.

For a moment, he stood there, not sure what to do. "Where should I pour my wrath, master?"

"I am not your master, Blues." Although the pitch black characteristic of the room had made it impossible for him to see minutes earlier, with this new, or shall we say old, found power, he could see everything – Including the figure of Dark Rockman standing before him. "The humans have formed alliances through a certain system called 'friendship'. I believe that is what we have. A beautiful friendship, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, it is." Dark Blues grinned positioning himself inches away from the dark blue navi "And we shall use it to take down their world and raise up ours, correct?"

"You catch on quickly." Dark Rockman smiled deviously, leaning forward for a kiss so generously offered by the other navi.

"We can take over together." Dark Blues whispered into his ear as he held him captive around the waist. "You and me in a world of pure darkness, how does that sound?"

The other grinned and whispered back "Perfect. Follow me. Our master will give us directions for our next mission."

Upon entering a room that was as equally dark as the last one, the dark red navi found himself at the foot of an all familiar throne.

"Ah, Blues. How nice of you to join us once again. This time you will not fail me, right?"

"Of course not, Regal-sama." The dark red navi bowed and kneeled on one knee, not once looking at his leader's face in order to show respect.

"And rockman, excellent job on the transformation. Did you have any problems?"

"None, master." Dark Rockman joined his lover's side, kneeling as well.

"Excellent. Now, Blues, IPC is holding a banquet party for the presentation of their booster product. I am putting you in charge of getting it in our possession. That booster will maximize the dark power's capabilities to its full potential."

"Regal-sama, would you allow me to accompany Blues on this mission to ensure interferences do not stand between us and the booster system?"

"Should problems arise, I will send you in to aid him in battle, but otherwise you are to remain at base. Am I clear?"

"Understood, Regal-sama."

"Good, that is all. Both of you are dismissed."

**0000000**

After waiting a few minutes about a block away from his house, Netto watched as a dark blue van pulled along side the road to give the brunette a lift to sci-lab. As he opened the sliding door, he found Sarena perched in the middle seat wearing a dark purple dress, elegant make-up and her hair pulled back dressily; completely opposite of her normal mysterious sun-glasses, long black jacket, black T-shirt, and blue jeans. Behind her in the back seat was Enzan, also nicely dressed in a black formal suit.

"I feel like I should've dressed up too…" Netto joked as he joined Sarena on the middle seat.

"You're just going to sci-lab so you didn't have to dress up, in which you're lucky. Trust me, the sooner I get out of this, the less likely I am to blow up at someone. I can't stand dresses or fancy crap! " She sighed

"Well you look nice, if that helps any." Netto shrugged.

"Hah, thanks. But honestly… it doesn't help much. Once we get in there and redirect Blues and or Rockman to sci-lab, then I'm bee-lining it for the door."

"She's never been one for fancy shmancy." A gruff voice spoke up from the drivers seat

"Hey, I remember you!" Netto exclaimed.

"S'right. Name's Kotyro. Sorry I gave you a hard time. We've just gotta' be careful these days."

"I understand. I'm sorry I caused such a commotion."

"It's no big." Netto could see Kotyro shrug his large shoulders in the drivers seat.

Netto leaned back, staring out the window. _What if Rockman doesn't show up? What if none of this works out, or more likely, what if someone at the banquet recognizes Enzan? This might not be such a good idea after all._

"Everything's going to be fine." Sarena smiled, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Netto looked at her dumbfounded, for it was the second time she had read a person's mind, all in the same day. "creepy…"

"It's all about facial expressions. You looked unsure. Put that and the banquet together, and it was easy to tell what you were thinking."

"You analyze too much." Enzan spoke up after remaining silent for the whole trip.

"What? It's what I do! It's become a way of life." she shrugged innocently.

"More like a habit."

"Same thing!"

"I didn't say it was a good habit."

"Well that's your problem."

"Actually it's yours."

"No, it's a blessing."

"Says the person who analyzes everything."

"You just don't analyze enough then."

"I'm-"

"SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!" Kotyro fumed, leaving Netto to suppress his laughter.

**0000000**

After making their drop-off at sci-lab, Enzan and Sarena arrived at the banquet. The younger sibling felt a knot in his stomach as he recognized so many of the guests attending.

"Name?" A friendly concierge asked as they entered the large dinner room of a fancy hotel.

"Sokatishe Tamika." Sarena responded politely as she was linked to her brother's arm "And this is my guest."

"Very well, you many proceed." As the man smiled and bowed, the two entered into the fancy banquet room.

Old English style paintings hung from the walls, and the entire room was tiled with white marble. People of many companies, high ranks, and the likes cluttered the floor as they talked about meaningless aristocratic gossip. Sarena and Enzan searched the room for a certain face that was scheduled to arrive. But upon gazing around the room, they only found one other particular face; the kind of face both Sarena and Enzan had hoped to avoid: Shuuskei.

"I hope he doesn't see us." Enzan whispered.

"Don't worry. He won't recognize you, and well…hopefully he won't recognize me." It was true, Enzan had looked much different with his hair all black, styled longer in a more chaotic fashion and his eye color changed to brown with the use of color contacts.

"Kuso…you spoke too soon!" The black haired young man spoke nervously as the old man spotted them and proceeded to approach them.

"Ah, good evening! I'm sorry but I failed to recognize you two, may I ask your names?" Shuuseki smiled, reaching out a hand to greet the two.

"My name is Sokatishe Tamika, and this is my brother, Ryuke."

"Nice to meet you two. I am Ijuuin Shuuseki, President of IPC."

None sooner than when she had introduced them, did a hand held device in Enzan's pocket begin to ring.

"Uh, excuse me a moment." Enzan disguised his voice and walked out of sight. The younger Ijuuin thanked the gods for the chance to escape.

_Ijuuin shuuseki, president of IPC . Oh how he just loves his title. More than his deceased wife and first son, that's for sure._

As he walked away, Sarena laughed a bit at her brother's attempt to change his voice. "I'm sorry, he's been very attached to his phone lately. He's an aspiring actor and just went for auditions a few weeks ago, so any time his phone rings, he has to answer it."

"I see, and what about you? What field do you work in?"

_Okay, this is the time to put on your acting gear and remember everything you memorized. _

"I work as the head of the research department for Yellow Tech Laboratories. Right now we're working on the recent virus outbreaks, and hoping to find an individual navi firewall to protect navi's from these viruses. The firewall is somewhat incomplete, and the power matrix isn't strong enough to fulfill its full potential."

"Ah, so you hope to win the booster system to bring your research to full fruition?"

She nodded. "That's correct. It is awfully generous that 25 percent of the profits will go to charity, and if our research gets hold of this, then every civilian will benefit."

"Well I wish you and your brother the best of luck. It was a delight to meet you, Tamika." Shuuseki took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Adeiu."

After she had smiled politely and he turned around, Sarena rolled her eyes. At the nearest table, she dabbed a napkin in a glass of water and used it to clean the back of her hand.

_I feel like I'm going to throw up if I don't get out of here soon. _She whined mentally. _Oh, I'm sure that's not the first time he's wished to do that. _

**0000000**

Having told the aqua haired man from Sharro about Rockman and Blues on the phone, Enzan met up with Laika who reluctantly agreed to help them.

"Aren't you the least bit insane for coming to your own father's banquet where he could easily recognize you?"

"I've already shook his hand and he had no idea who I really was." Enzan stated flatly.

Laika jerked his head backwards. "That's…sad."

"You're telling me. But it's good for our purposes." Enzan shrugged, "Now, my PET hasn't confirmed a signal yet. We'll just have to tread water until either navi's show up. My suspicion is that Blues will be the one."

"Just how do you know that your father isn't the one holding him captive?"

"Why would he take Rockman as well?" Enzan answered

"Good Point." Laika stroked his chin pensively.

"That would only leave someone with dark ambitions, and would want the booster system."

"You better hope that Blues shows up. It was absolute hell trying to get my commanding officer to let me off training." Laika crossed his arms.

"He will…I can feel it."

There was silence between the two as they stood in the hall. "So how come Netto isn't here in case Rockman shows up?"

"He's at the science labs ready for the reversal process once we direct either of the navi's over there."

"I see." Was Laika's simple reply. "So…how've you been since your father kicked you out?"

"Alright. Doesn't feel like much has changed. More free time, but a lot less privileges. Other than that, I've been doing okay. You?"

"Busy as heck, as always. It was kind of nice to get a break from all the recruit training. They're so…so…stupid!"

"Easy Laika, not everyone's as smart as you, remember?" Enzan added with a tease.

"Oh, I remember very well, and I am faced with the fact 24/7." He sighed. "It's the one time I wish I were one of the stupid ones, so I would be used to the stupidity!"

A constant beep brought the two out of meaningless conversation. Enzan glanced at his P.E.T. then looked at Laika with a deft expression.

"He's here."

**0000000**

Arisa: ooooh! I've already written what happens in the future, and I know you guys are going to love it.

Icy: _gasp _Yaoi! Yay! _Huggles dark Rockman_ Mine:3 _Sees dark Blues and hugglesh as well._ Mine too!

Arisa: have amazing plans for this story. Oh, and a note for the Japanese suffixes. I haven't used them often because of my knowledge or lack thereof. So I might use them once in a while, as long as a character is referring to someone with a title other than "-san" (I.E. -Sama, -Kun, -Chan, -Sensei, etc.) I finally wasn't so lazy that I decided to look up the meanings.

Icy: _gigglesnorteh _Arisa accidentally had Sarena say "Netto-chan." XD

Arisa: then I fixed it and put –san, _Icy-chan._

Icy: You know that chan is used with close friends, too, right?

Arisa: _reads guide. _Oh. Right.

Icy: How are you ever going to plan your trip to Japan if you can't even speak the language correctly?

Arisa: Damare! I'm only 15, I've got a few years to learn, okay? And it doesn't help that I'm currently taking Spanish, which was the only foreign language offered at my school. (But I may take Japanese at the local community college in the summer! 3)

Icy: you're definitely going to need some classes!

Arisa: . You. Quiet. Anywho! Sorry reader peoples for going off on a tangent. If you could, please review! Thanks!


	9. Chapter 9: A Secret Revealed

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**Chapter 9: **A Secret Revealed

"Halt!"

"Hm?" Blues turned around amused at what kind of amateur guard navi might be trying to stop him. Upon seeing Searchman, he still remained hardly phased. "Why, if it isn't Searchman. How nice to see you again." A gun fired, barely missing the darkloid by inches, thanks to his speed. "That's no way to greet a friend!"

"Blues is my friend. _You _are not." He spoke, his gun still pointed at Dark Blues.

"Well I guess I'll just have to delete you then!" The darkloid dashed towards the green navi, sword in hand.

"Wide Sword!" Laika announced as he inserted the battle chip. Searchman used this resource to block Dark Blues' attack. Pushing the navi away, the green navi fired off another attack towards the darkloid, this time achieving a direct hit.

Growling, Dark Blues regained his battle stance. "I'd give up now if I were you. Once I get my hands on the booster system, I assure you, you can be one of the first to receive a taste of my power!"

"Do you really want the booster system? How do you know that it'll benefit _you?"_ Searchman questioned, somewhat fishing for clues to who his leader was, and partially trying to direct Blues' thinking.

"It will. Trust me."

"Wouldn't you rather have dark chips that could increase _your _power?"

Dark Blues thought a moment, understanding that Searchman had a point to make. "Go on…"

"There are some unguarded dark chips at sci-lab, and you can have them _if_ , and only if, you leave the booster system alone."

Enzan watched through Laika's PET, secretly hoping his plan would work. He knew that no darkloid could resist a free dark chip, and they would give up anything for one. He hoped that anything included a mission to steal a booster system.

"I see…" Dark Blues grinned. "Rockman!"

A blue ray of light sent Dark Rockman into the area. "Yes, love?"

Enzan's face twisted. _Eh? Love? _

"Searchman here has just informed me that there are some unguarded dark-chips at sci-lab. Would you mind fetching them while I handle this perp and the booster system?"

"It'd be my pleasure." Dark Rockman smiled maliciously before streaming out of the vicinity. "Arigatou, Searchman."

Enzan clenched his fist. _Well at least Netto can get Rockman back. _He heard the clapping of people in the banquet room, signaling the auction had begun. _We'll just have to stall him so he doesn't cause any more trouble. _

"I will not let you take the booster system!" Searchman said with determination, throwing a bomb at the dark navi.

"Too late!" The dark red navi announced.

_Too late?….dimensional area!_

"Kuso…Laika, I need to get Sarena and I out of here. Can you handle the operation?"

"Say no more. Go."

"Arigatou." Enzan added before dashing down the hallway.

As he made his way through the maze of corridors, he pulled out his PET and began to dial Netto.

"Yeah?" A teenage voice resounded on the other line.

"Rockman's on his way to sci-lab. Prepare the reversal program."

"It's ready. But…what about blues?"

"We made the mistake of telling him where the dark ch-" Enzan's sentence was cut off since he hadn't been watching where he was going. Clumsily, he bumped into a man who had just come out of his hotel room.

The words, "Oh…I'm sorry…"

…were all he heard before blacking out.

**0000000**

"Enzan…?" Netto asked confused before seeing the same man hit the teen over the head with some large object. The PET stopped transmitting any image or sound, causing the brunette to nearly loose it.

"Kuso!" quickly, he dialed Sarena, praying to the gods that she would answer.

"Hello?"

"Sarena, I was just talking to Enzan when someone hit him on the head. I think he's unconscious or at least in trouble."

"This is bad…at least I can trace his PET from mine, so I'll go look for him."

"Okay…hurry! He told me Rockman is on his way here, and he started to tell me why Blues wasn't coming, and that's when the call ended."

"Alright. I'll call you if I find anything."

"Hey! Who's there!?" A door opened, allowing a voice to announce its presence to the brunette.

Netto froze.

**0000000**

_Kuso…this is bad. _Sarena sighed as she watched before hanging up. _Could this night get any worse?_

Hanging up the phone, she opened the program to track her brother's PET. A map displayed the buildings surrounding her, and a red dot indicated that his location was close and quickly moving away. Hurriedly, she ran out of the hotel to follow his signal. To her relief, the dot slowed, then moved inside a certain building which could be seen from the street. Quickly, she removed her high heels and tossed them aside to allow her to run towards it.

Arriving at the door, she noticed the space was a vacant building, looking as if it were a hotel soon to open. Sarena wandered around the back for an easy entrance to bypass, and soon found one. Before entering, however, she lifted up her dress to pull a gun out of a holster strapped to her right leg. With her defense in one hand, she entered the building cautiously. Sarena pulled out her PET to get a detailed map with x,y, and z coordinates. Located above her, about 25 feet, the dot had stopped moving.

_Gotchya now. Hang tight, Enzan._

As she reached the second floor, she noticed that her z coordinates now matched his. All that was left to find was the x and y. Her feet ached from running across various rough surfaces barefoot, but right now, she hadn't the time to care.

To her confusion, no voices or footsteps were heard. She knew there was no way she was in the building alone. Her only hope was that whoever had kidnapped him had gone downstairs and left through a different stairway than the one she had come up.

"Hey!"

Sarena spun around to see a stranger approaching. Quickly, she held up her gun. "Make a false move and I swear to god I'll blow your brains out!"

The man held up his hands in surrender and backed away slowly. "Listen, the kid is down the hallway to your right and the second door to the left. I was just told to bring him here and I'd get paid. I have no idea what's going on or why he's here."

"Then I'll let you go, but I suggest you get out of here before I change my mind." She clicked the gun, giving the man more reason to back away.

"h-h-hai." The fat blob turned around and began to run in the opposite direction.

Sensing that she still wasn't the only presence in the hallway, she turned behind her only find herself faced with three men about twice her size.

It's a good thing I've got a loaded gun…wish I didn't have to…guess I'm going to need to.

Before she could shoot, however, an arm wrapped around her neck, and she felt the barrel of a gun pressed to her head.

"Going somewhere, little missy?"

"Yeah, hell, but you'll be there first!" In one swift motion, she used all the power in her leg to kick behind her and hyperextend the captor's knee, while ducking out of his arms as he pulled on the trigger. His gun shot, but luckily only into the nearest wall. Sarena quickly shot off two rounds before having time to think about the consequences. The other two men staggered back from the blows and finally fell on the ground with bullet holes going through their chests. The man that had originally captured her, got up, limping, and aimed his gun at her.

"Shoot, and I'll shoot you."

"Oh give me a break." Quickly dodging to the side, she pulled the trigger on her gun one more time, sending the man reeling back to the ground. Looking at the suffering men made her a little sick as humane emotions kicked back into her system. "I suppose I should spare you a little and just kill you now."

Sighing, she walked over the first man. _God, I hate doing this._

**0000000**

Netto gulped.

"Who's there! Answer me!"

Wincing, the brunette turned around as he recognized the voice.

"Netto? What on earth are you doing here?" Dr. Hikari asked, turning on the lights.

"Uh…you see…" Netto's attention was turned towards a monitor as a system analysis showed Rockman had entered the building. "Even though that looks like Rockman, it isn't. Remember I called you this morning and asked you if he was here?"

"Hai, what about it?"

"That's because he went missing."

"So who is that?"

"Dark Rockman."

Dr. Hikari's eyes grew wide. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We were planning to have another darkloid come as well."

"We?"

Netto gulped. "Yeah, we. Blues was infected as well."

"Why didn't you or Shuuseki tell me about this?"

"It's not Shuuseki." Netto sighed. "Enzan's alive."

Removing his glasses, Dr. Hikari ran his hand over his tired face. "Netto, you're going to have to realize that he's gone. I know it's hard."

"Dad. I'm serious. I'll explain later, but right now we have to focus on Rockman."

"Right…" Yuuchiro sighed as he set his glasses back on his nose and walked over to the computer screen. His eyes widened at the sight before him. "Are you insane?"

"Don't worry. It's just an illusion. Those aren't really dark chips. The ground beneath that has a trap as well. It's our prototype trap though, so you know the side effects."

"Only lasts for twenty seconds... why don't I handle the program sequencing and you tell me when to begin?"

"Got it." Netto turned on the hologram which displayed the cyber matrix. As something approached in the distance, the nerves in the brunette's veins pulsed with anticipation. "He's coming…get ready."

"Just tell me when."

Dark Rockman had only gotten a few feet away from the dark chips when the trap encircled him and the dark-chip illusion disappeared.

"Now!"

Quickly, Dr. Hikari began typing away on the computer as Dark Rockman infuriately shook the bars of the trap. Through the top of the trap, a white beam of light filled with the necessary program parts to purge the darksoul shone down on the darkloid.

Netto counted down in his mind. _15….14….13…_

The darkloid screamed in agony as the black aura of malice began to take a separate form from the navi.

_10…9….8…_

The black flame finally separated itself from the blue navi, who fell carelessly to the ground. Yuuchiro typed in the last sequence set to destroy the flame.

_4….3….2…_

A mini explosion caused a shrill from the flame which finally dissipated from the surrounding white light. Netto sighed, smiling in victory. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I'll set up the recovery sequence. His energy is most likely drained, but now the dark soul is gone, he should be fine."

"Thanks dad."

"Welcome. Just know that I'll be willing to help you whenever you need it." Yuuchiro patted his son on the shoulder. "But about Enzan…"

"He…he is alive. His father kicked him out of the company to make room for his other son. But in order for the public not to know that, he faked Enzan's death."

"Have you seen him?"

"I spent all of this afternoon with him. Someone captured our navi's, and we've got to find out who. First, I should probably let his sister that I'm alright though."

"Sister?"

"Same mother, different father."

Yuuchiro cocked his head backwards. Apparently it was a lot to take in, too long a day, and too late at night for the doctor to process all this information. "I see…"

After putting the three men out of their misery, Sarena heard her PET begin to ring.

"Hello?"

"We did it. Rockman's back to normal. It was just my father that came in."

"Oh…that's good." She said with a hint of agitation.

"What's wrong? Have you found Enzan?"

"I'm about to. I was almost killed by three men twice my size, but uh…I'll tell you about that later. I'm fine for now…" Netto could hear a low rumbling noise in the background.

"What is that?"

"I'm not sure…sounds like an Earthquake…"

"Kuso! Sarena, get out of there!" Netto warned her

"I can't! I'm on the second story!" she spoke frantically.

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the new hotel on the corner of 22nd street."

"I'll be right there. Hang tight!" Netto announced before hanging up. He then looked at his father. "Is there any way rockman can have a quick recovery?"

"What's going on?"

Netto explained in minor detail about the plans for the banquet. "Did I mention that Dark Blues wants to kill them, and Sarena doesn't have a navi?"

Mouth agape, Dr. Hikari worked on recovering the blue navi. "I'm not sure how fast he can recover. Most likely if you crossfuse, he'll be draining from your energy to reach an equilibrium."

"Then we'll do that. I just need to destroy the dimensional area generators."

Yuuchiro sighed "You know how much I don't want to do this…"

"Two lives depend on us. I'll be okay, and I'll make sure nothing happens to Rockman either."

After receiving the blue PET, Dr. Hikari hooked it up the computer. Once the recovery sequence was set in place, Rockman was logged out and returned to the PET. Handing the device back to Netto, he looked in his son's eyes "Be careful…"

"I always am."

**0000000**

"I leave you with two options, Enzan." A voice announced, "Either you cross fuse with me, or you die." Darkloid Blues pointed a sword at the bound Enzan as he offered him two very depressing choices.

"Fine…" Enzan coughed. "I'll cross fuse with you."

The navi bent down and placed a hand on the human's shoulder, enveloping the two in a confusing dark light. But the transformation did not have the same effects as it did once before. This time, Dark blues came out the victor.

As if on cue, a purple dressed, black haired girl stumbled through the door, only to find herself wide eyed.

"Kuso…"

"How nice of you to join us, Sarena."

"What've you done with my brother?"

"Why, I am your brother!" Dark Blues replied with an innocent tone but a knowing smirk.

"No…What have you done with him?!" She demanded, holding up her gun and threatening to shoot.

"Nuh uh uh! You don't want to do that, now do you? If you kill me, you kill him as well. That's just the way crossfusion works."

Sarena clenched her fist and lowered her gun. "What do you want with me?"

"Oh, it's so simple. You and your little friend caused me to miss my chance at getting the booster system. Now you're going to pay." He grinned with malice.

Sarena, who had only entered the room a few feet, quickly ran out the door. Realizing the dimensional area generators were limited to the building, her hiding places were limited.

_Maybe I can break the generators…But if I shoot, he'll be able to hear me and find me. Damnit! _

Running past the three dead men in the hallway, she turned down another corridor. Trying to open a random door that lead into a hotel room, she realized they were all locked and she didn't have the time to pick them.

No sooner than she thought she had lost the navi, did an unearthly blow to her side send her reeling to the ground.

"Enzan! Come on! Snap out of it!" she staggered to her feet, but backed away with every approach he made.

"Heh, Enzan can't hear you. I control this body now." Dark Blues grinned, approaching the girl. Holding her gun up, she sparked another response from him. "Didn't I tell you? You kill me, and you kill him."

"Yes…" she began as she aimed her gun towards his sword. "But if I kill your means to kill me…" she pulled the trigger. "then I'm set."

The bullet hit the sword, but much to her dismay, it only succeeded in ricocheting off of it. Dark Blues grinned, amused by her futile attempt at survival. Now as he stood a few feet away from her, she was on the verge of loosing her life; everything she had worked for would be diminished under one fatal swipe. Her brother, captured in the body of a dark soul, could possibly be lost forever, and the revenge she swore for her mother would be a swear in vain.

In being pinned against the wall and stared at by a long sword pointed to her chest, it was evident she hadn't much of an option. Her last, and final resource of pulling both her brother and his navi back to reality was a desperate measure.

But it was all she had.

Quickly, she conjured up the remaining strength she had left to push away the sword and to throw all her weight on top of him, sending both of them barreling to the ground. Having him captive, she took a breath and pressed her lips strongly against his.

His lips were warm to the touch, but cold and bitter in response. Not content to let him go until she got a response in the break of the dark seal, she pressed her lips harder against his.

_These lips I have wanted to kiss so bad are now upon mine… if only it didn't have to be this way…_

A stab in her side forced her to let go and fall weakly to his side. She clutched her stomach as blood began to stain the purple dress and pain filled her left side. Now having a sword pointed at her throat by a standing cross-fused navi, she closed her eyes and swallowed hard. That was her last chance, and it didn't work.

"Stupid human! You actually thought that'd work? Your love means nothing."

Disheartened, broken, and weak, she was ready to give up. Closing her eyes and turning her head away from her predator, the only thing that was holding herself back from sacrifice was the animal instinct to survive. Looking back cold-eyed at the blood-thirsty creature before her, she spoke with sparse life left in her voice. "Then kill me now."

"Sarena, are you insane!?" A voice shouted from across the room. Both humans (or what was left of them) looked to see a cross fused Netto running toward them, sword in hand.

"You…" Dark Blues hissed, "you took him away!"

Netto, understanding everything the darkloid meant by this comment, chose to ignore it. "Sarena, don't be stupid!"

"You'll save Enzan, Netto. He'll get revenge on Shuuseki, and Kotyro can take over Vengeance. There's no need for me, and my heart hurts too much!" She then cast her gaze at Blues "Just do it already!"

The red-clad navi smirked. "As you wish." He raised his sword, the razor-blade sharpness of it deeming maliciously at her chest. She counted the seconds and braced for impact to her heart.

It was a matter of seconds…

"NO!"

The sword came down, and the shock of where it landed caused her eyes to widen and water in immense pain. Blood began to pour from her neck, making her vision go blurry and her consciousness diminish rapidly.

Grunting, Blues sat up, having been tackled by the blue human who interrupted his killing.

"Enzan, if you can hear me, please snap out of it!" Netto shouted as he fired off his Vulcan towards the last dimensional area generator

"Enzan isn't here!" Blues shot back, picking himself off the ground. There was one more generator left. If nothing had been accomplished of this night, he would make sure one thing would…

…He would kill the girl.

Walking over to her and smiling at the pool of blood forming around her head, Dark Blues threw all his weight into stabbing her point blank in the heart. But instead of a sword falling, a whole body nearly fell, or almost did.

"Enzan!"

The dimensional area had faded in the nick of time to send Dark Blues back into the recesses of the net. Enzan, who had zero influence on what his darkened navi was doing seconds earlier, kneeled beside his sister. He immediately shred his sleeve and wrapped the long piece of material around her neck.

"I'm sorry, I tried to stop him from hurting her, but apparently he was able to get her in the neck." Netto sighed, running over to the siblings.

"At least he didn't kill her. At least _I _didn't kill her…" he mumbled, "But I got damn close."

A pair of weak eyes fluttered open under the caring touch of her brother. "Enzan…"

"What were you thinking, sacrificing yourself like that?"

"You should've let me go." She coughed as she tried to whisper

He shook his head. "I couldn't. And Netto knows I would've never forgiven him if he hadn't tried to stop Blues."

"But I'm suffering, Enzan." She weakly pointed to her heart. "It hurts right here."

Enzan frowned, understanding everything she meant by this comment. "…Don't speak, just rest. Right now we need to get you to a hospital."

Netto took out his PET and dialed for an ambulance. Sarena shook her head. "Don't."

Enzan quieted her with and index finger to her lips. "No, you don't. Don't give up on me now. You're the only family I have. Don't let go, one-chan. "

She coughed once more and closed her eyes, giving up her consciousness. "Aishiteru, Enzan-kun."

"Damnit Sarena! Don't do this!" he cried out, hot tears streaming down his cheeks. After her eyes closed, he listened to her heart, still hearing a constant pulse. He held onto her hand tightly; She was still alive, but for how long?

**0000000**

Arisa: And there you have it folks. One of the most action packed, dramatic, bloody, violent chapters I have ever written in my LIFE.

Icy: noooo! Sarena!

Arisa: It's funny, when I started this, I didn't mean to make her a major character. It just so turns out that she grew on me. But she's not like one of those god-modding ace net battler Major OC's that make me want to hurl. Jesu christo! She doesn't even have a navi!

Icy: Why not?

Arisa: then she just could've saved herself and that scene would've been boring.

Icy: O I C.

Arisa: Ew. N00b talk.

Icy: LOL.

Arisa: cut it out!

Icy: kno!

Arisa:…dork. Anyways, if you haven't reviewed, PLEASE review for this chapter. I worked _**really **_hard on it and I want to know what others think of it. Thanks!

Icy: BY! LOL!


	10. Chapter 10: Sarena’s Story

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**Chapter 10: **Sarena's Story

**It was almost thirteen years ago, **and I lost my parents. I remember waking up one night to my father's quiet voice.

"Sarena, wake up! There's a huge meteor shower tonight!" he gently shook my shoulders. Rubbing my eyes, I dragged myself out of bed to follow him to the porch. It was really something; streams of white flew across the sky freely, as if there was nothing in the world to stop them.

My mother, beautiful, satin white hair - white as snow-, gazed up at the heavens along with us. "Did you make a wish, Ena-chan?"

I nodded childishly. "uh huh!"

"Keep it close. Don't let it go." She must have noticed that I was cold, for a second later she wrapped her arm around me. Although my eyes were watching the sky, I could sense she was smiling. "Do you want to go back to sleep?" She asked after I let out a loud yawn.

I bobbed my head 'no', but my body disagreed. I could hardly keep my eyes open. I think I started to doze off, leaning my head against her. My father picked me up and carried me back into my room, gently tucking me back in bed. "Goodnight, Ena-chan."

Little did I know it'd be last time they'd call me by that name. I should have been asleep, but the slam of multiple car doors seemed to have waken me up. Then…the doorbell rang.

She shouldn't have answered it. It was _him. _My step father. The piercing shrill of her scream still lives with me today. A gun shot. Then another. Out of fear and cowardice, I climbed out my window, running as far away as I could. This wasn't far, though. I ended up camping out somewhere on some side of some road for the night. I woke up early the next day and traveled back to the house. I'll never forget what I saw.

I'm not sure why, but the idiot left his gun. I wasn't too young to know I should keep it, so I stored it in a plastic baggy. Even after crying for what seemed like hours, each time I looked at the blood framed figures, I was tempted to sob more. Eventually I gathered up the strength to pack my bags and take off toward the nearest police station. _This will be good_ I thought _The police will solve everything _

That's just a fairy tale lie. Apparently while I was gone, someone came in and cleaned up the bodies, the mess. I showed the officers the gun, but they just believed I picked it up somewhere on the side of the road. I remember back at the station they took the baggie away from me. As the policeman went to make a phone call to the local orphanage, I took my chance to take the gun and run. If they wouldn't serve justice, _I would. _

**0000000**

**Eleven years later,** Long, slender legs danced along the stage. A pair of dark eyes watched as the beautiful figure moved around graciously, seductively. The young woman's eyes met with the stranger. Anger filled her being, but not once did she disrupt the fake, routine dance that gave her the best wages for an orphan of her caliber. When the song ended, and it was another girl's shift, the black haired beauty exited the stage. Men came to the bar drooling over their perverse fantasies, but never had she been more disgusted than she had at the sight of _that_ man.

"What's wrong Sar'? You look like you saw a ghost." One of the other girls asked as she exited alongside the pretty dancer.

"No, Yuki, more like she saw a ghost throwing up! Are you okay?" another girl chimed

The black haired girl wiped the sweat from her forehead as she responded to her fellow dancers backstage "Ye-yeah, Kai. I'm fine."

"She probably saw an ex-boyfriend or something, right Sarena?" another girl chimed in.

"Worse than that, Niishi" She responded. "Much worse. My step father."

"Ewwww!" the girls chorused.

"Girl, take as loooong a break as you need!" the one called Yuki exclaimed with a knowing attitude. "If I were you, I'd ditch this place in case it becomes his routine, if you know what I mean."

"I wish I could. There's so much more I want to do with my life."

"Oh please, Sarena. Don't go getting dreamy on us. We all have to put up with seeing somebody we don't like. No dance, no pay." A blonde haired snot interrupted their conversation. She looked like she belonged to the bar so much that she might as well have been born there. "Your shift's over, so go home and rest up. Cause you know, seeing as we all know you've got no where to go, we're expecting you tomorrow night. So if you want to have money to live, you'll be here. Am I clear?"

If glares could kill, Sarena would've murdered her on the spot. "Crystal." She muttered through her clenched teeth. Miss snot walked away, leaving the four girls in silence until her exit.

"Sarena, don't listen to her. You've got so much opportunity that we've never had. Rissaka is just jealous because of that, and because the men want you to dance more than her." Yuki spoke up.

"Yeah, you've got natural beauty. If the men could see her up close, they'd see the twenty pounds of make-up she cakes on each day. She must have to stock up on concealer and lip stick every week!" Niisha laughed "Oh! and the hairspray! She mind as well wear pottery on her head! It would hold it's shape better!"

"You've got, well…more, than she does." Kai giggled, sending the others into a fit of laughter.

Sarena, however, who had now sit down, wasn't as amused. "Whatever, she can have it." Glancing back at the door that lead to the stage, she curled her hand into a fist. "I've got bigger plans…I just don't know how or what to do. I've got so many problems to face" she sighed, wiping her face with a towel.

"How about getting up and walking? You'll never be able to solve your problems by just sitting there!" Yuki grinned.

Sarena gave her a look of respect and thoughtfulness. Perhaps it was time she picked herself up out of her self-pity, and did something. She didn't know how she would achieve her goals, but she knew the first step: getting herself out of this hole of a lifestyle. She had a measure of revenge to serve, and it she wasn't getting any closer by letting the man she hated so much, revel in her beauty. "You know…you're right." she smiled brightly.

"That's the Sarena we know!" one of the females chimed.

"But…what about you guys?"

"You're the last remaining of the veterans. You've been here longer than we have. It's only time you leave. Besides, once you do, someone else will be hired, and then one of us can get out of this hell hole."

"Why don't we all leave? Take that _musume, _Rissaka, off her high horse!" Kai laughed.

"Yeah, we can all set up a flower shop or something. None of us are meant for this lifestyle." Niisha grinned. "Sarena, you with us?"

"Yeah…Sure." She smiled.

"Girls!" The blonde entered again. "_Hayaku!_ Get off your butts and come dance! You're not paid to sit around chatting!"

Niisha and Kai left after exchanging glances with their comrades. After they had gone out of ear-shot, Yuki lowered her voice. "Is he _the one?_"

"Yeah..." Sarena responded solemnly. She had entrusted her secret about her childhood to Yuki, possibly the best friend she had ever had.

"Listen, I've got a friend, Kotyro, who's got somewhat of a similar story. He's got some friends collected up, but as a whole, they're well…basically, computer geeks who can't fight for their life. He could use your street-savvy ability to train new recruits, and you could start your own vigilante team."

Sarena's dark, but brilliant violet eyes widened. "Really? When can I meet him?"

"I'm not sure. I'll try to get in touch with him though."

"Thanks Yooks."

"No problem. The only good thing that's come out of this job is our little sisterhood between you, me, Kai and Niisha. Now that we all have someone watching our backs, we can take care of each other and get out of this place."

"But if I do go to do this…"

"You'll always have a home with us. I know Kotyro will take good care of you."

**0000000**

"Click-clack"

"Click-clack."

Close footsteps echoed her feet against the ground.

"Hey Babe!" A drunken voice called out, causing Sarena to spin on her heels. "Wanna come home with me tonight?" a staggering bum armed with a baseball bat approached the female, who was at this point reaching inside her jacket for defense.

Pulling out a gun, she aimed it toward him. "Get any closer and I _will _shoot!"

The man, seeming easily persuaded by her words, dropped the bat to the ground and ran away with a staggering sway. The baseball bat made a large thudding noise as it hit the concrete, impairing her ears from hearing anything else. Thus, when someone behind her spoke up, it was needless to say she was most definitely startled.

"Good job." Was the quiet, calm voice that sent her veins on fire with agitation.

After turning around and quickly pointing her gun shakily at the stranger located a foot in front of her, she spoke with a quivering voice. "Wh-who are you?!"

The man let a relaxed smile seep through as he gently pushed the gun away. "The name's Kotyro."

Sarena let her shoulders slump and her hands fall to her side, but her frightened expression transformed into one of pure exasperation. "What do you think you're doing, sneaking up on someone like that, especially in the middle of the night, and _especially_ after they were just threatened!"

"Testing you."

"You were testing me?" Sarena thought a moment after speaking out, "Oh wait…for the team."

"You've got skill. It could use strengthening, but I have a feeling as we get more recruits, that as you get stronger, they will too."

"Who's your first target?" she asked quietly.

"Dead." He shrugged his shoulder, "Next target, however, is a rich aristocrat named Binzijunio Masadoka."

"Murder?"

"Four innocent children."

"Police investigated it?"

"Dismissed the case. As they say, money is power."

"Disgusting." Sarena shook her head.

"I know." Kotyro grinned. "I think we'll work well together."

"As long as you don't sneak up on me like that again; I might shoot you out of instinct. I don't work well with dead people. They kinda creep me out."

"Too true," He chuckled, "but your instincts will serve you well, I can see."

"Why don't you train the people? You seem street-wise?"

"I'm busy taking care of the net processes. Yuki tells me that you don't have a navi, and have depended on yourself for a long time."

"Most of my life."

"That'll be an asset."

"You think?" Sarena asked with a questioning eye as she pulled her jacket closer to her.

"I know."

**0000000**

Adjusting her baseball cap, the same girl, two years later, trudged forward. The cool night air began to settle on the busy city, empowered with enough force to slow the streets down a bit. Stopping at an old shop, the corners of her lips curled into a smile.

_Congrats, you three. I hope you all are doing well._

She stared at the boarded up window, an old sign hanging carelessly inside it, reading: "Thanks to many customers, Floral Beauty has moved to a newer, bigger location at 2189 W. Quarter Street. Come stop by and visit us any Monday through Saturday from 9:00 AM to 7:30 PM!"

After letting her smile fall back into it's normal resting position, she turned from the run-down shop and began to walk along the sidewalk past an empty alley. As she continued, however, she felt a crunch in her heart. It was if someone had lassoed her heart, and she had gone as far rope would reach.

_Turn back_ a voice called to her.

_Why? _She argued with herself

_Turn back.. You need to turn back._

Sighing, she realized it was her instinctive voice talking to her, and ignoring it could lead to fatalities. As she did, she noticed a young man wandering into the alley. Curious and precautious, she watched him from a distance. Her caution, however, was not needed. This young man seemed too entrenched in his wallowing to notice her.

As she heard him talking to himself, she was about to pronounce him crazy; but then she realized as he picked up a red PET, that it was his navi he was talking to. After a few minutes of listening, she decided to approach him. His situation was perfect for a Vengeance recruit: Resentment, anger, and no place to go. Not only that, but she realized she was about to approach _his _son; her half brother.

"What am I supposed to do?" he sighed, half talking to his navi, half thinking aloud.

"How about picking your feet up and walking?" she asked, obviously startling the young man. Seeing his blue eyes look straight up into hers, melted her soul.

_This can't be happening. But ugh! He's so…so…gorgeous! No Sarena, that's just wrong. He's shuuseki's son! You're related to him by BLOOD. _

Even after his snappy response, she couldn't take her eyes off his face. His eyes, formed just like her mother's, seemed to destroy the walls around her heart. The white, satin hair that crowned his head also resembled hers, and the contrasting black underneath it only added to it's vibrancy.

_He's perfect for the team. He's loathing Shuuseki, and once I tell him about mother, I'm sure he'll join. God… I just wish we weren't related._

These emotions were well hidden behind her 'friendly stranger' mask. She made sure to sound harmless and honest, although, she didn't want herself to come off as sounding like a drunk woman. As he accepted her offer, it was just another proof that acting could have been a great career choice; She was certainly good at it.

But she had selfless plans ahead. She wouldn't use her acting skills to gain wealth or fame; no, she would use this talent among many others to recruit, train, and serve justice. She would prove once and for all, that money isn't necessarily power.

Weeks passed, and the young man proved to be more useful and well trained than any of the recruits had been. He helped conduct several missions swiftly and brilliantly. She and Kotyro agreed, this boy, Ijuuin Enzan, was most definitely Vengeance leadership material.

"I never personally killed anyone before! Much less multiple people…there were innocent servants in that house!" he exclaimed as he dragged his feet towards her. After bombing his residence and parachuting the ground, he was just a little bit exhausted.

Sarena frowned and pulled him into a comforting embrace. "I know, Enzan. I know" she cooed. _I've got to let go…this isn't right. _Stepping back, she held onto his upper arms to steady him. His weak hug signaled that his body was ready to collapse.

"And I've lost everything. I can't go back now."

"We promised we'd let you go after this." She said, the words cutting into her like daggers "We know how to get you a fake ID and any kind of work you want in the city. You can start over new if you'd like."

"Yeah…sure…" He sighed.

"Hey…" she smiled. "Look on the bright side. Mother's soul can finally rest in peace. So can my father's. You can start a new life without your father's company pressuring you every minute." And maybe I can finally rid myself of this silly crush. It'll work out for both of us. I promise.

**0000000**

She dashed to the surveillance room after a small alarm alerted that an intruder had broken into the school. The stats whizzing by on a small monitor read that this intruder broke the system's lock in 27.2 seconds and was rapidly moving through the building.

Pulling out her walkie-talkie, she signaled to fellow leader "Enzan?"

"Hai?"

"We've got an intruder in the building. They took out the lock system in 27.2 seconds. The surveillance shows that he doesn't seem threatening, however. Just a curious kid."

"Oh? And what would you like me to do about the situation?"

"Could you convince the intruder to leave?"

"I'm not sure that's safe for me to do right now."

"I'll have Kotyro take care of it instead."

"I think that'd be best."

Half an hour passed and Kotyro had informed her about the intruder. Her impatience began to get the best of her, and she proceeded to check up on the situation.

As she walked into the room, she saw her brother looking into the eyes of his friend. The friend looked away quickly, deep redness forming on his face. Enzan looked up, pretending to not be phased, but Sarena could see more in his eyes.

As he escorted the friend out of the building, she watched from his room, which held a good view of the entrance. Wanting to see his expression as he reentered into what he thought was isolation, she waited in a corner not visible from the door.

On que, Enzan walked into the room and leaned against the door. Sliding down it, he cradled his head in his hands. After startling him with her presence, the two had a long conversation. It was during this time she learned that her growing love was in vain. To be quite honest, the only reason why she accepted his love for another male was because shunning them would be hypocrisy, seeing as incest is another form of condemned love. As they say, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

I made him believe that I was happy about his love. I am, I'm glad he's found someone he's happy with. I just wish that someone was me. Sarena! You're being selfish! Just get over your stupid crush already!

That night became proof, however, that their conversation bothered her more than she let on.

I can't love him! I don't! It's just a crush! It's not love!

It can't be…I won't let it be. It's not…

It is.

The next day she awoke to find him standing on the roof. As hard as she tried, she couldn't keep herself from smiling when she was around him.

"I sure as hell hope so." Enzan let out a sigh as they talked.

"There's no room for doubt on the team. You've got to have faith in our people." As she spoke sternly, the gentle air that rustled through her hair was the only softness present in their encounter.

But after speaking with a harsh tone of suppressed feelings, she let a smile shine through. The sunlight on his face gave him an even more irresistible look as a loose piece of hair dangled in front of his beautiful eyes. Gently brushing it away, she smiled.

I just touched the face of an angel….

Her happiness was interrupted, however, by Enzan's discovery of Blues' disappearance. They soon learned later that his "friend", Netto's navi had also been taken. She had heard the news that morning that IPC was about to release its booster system that night. The three of them worked on developing a plan to rescue the navi's, who had supposedly been tainted by darkness.

Using her hacking abilities, Sarena put herself, Enzan, and his other friend on the list of invited patrons. All that was left to do was to look like she belonged.

She took out a purple dress she bought on the last shopping trip with Yuki. Looking at it, she smiled.

**0000000**

"C'mon sar! Just try it! It'll go great with your eyes!"

Sarena rolled her eyes, reluctantly walking into the dressing room. After five minutes, she hadn't come out, and Yuki had become impatient.

"Hayaku! What's taking so long?"

"I…its…"

the friend barged into the dressing room to find the dress didn't look good, it looked stunning.

"Oh my god! Sarena, you HAVE to get that dress!" Yuki exclaimed, nearly jumping out of her shoes like a giddy school girl.

"Where am I going to wear it? When will I ever go to a formal dance? I mean, I'm practically going to be in the army in a few days. Like I'll ever get a chance to wear this?"

"Someday, probably soon, some nice guy's going to ask you out on a date. What're you going to wear? Jeans, boots, and a tank top? C'mon!"

She sighed, knowing that there was some truth to what her friend was saying. Also…she kind of liked the way it looked. Not only did it compliment her eyes, but it held onto her figure perfectly. The bottom was cut diagonally, the highest point coming just above her knees. "I dunno…I Just feel…naked, I guess."

Yuki cast her a glance only the two of them would've understood, seeming to say 'after our past career, you feel naked in that?'

"I'm trying to start over! I don't want to look like a slut anymore and I hated it to begin with!" she sighed, looking down to hide her smile. "But I guess…I do… kinda… like the dress…"

"Then get it! You deserve it! Besides, I saw the rack said 50 off the reduced price, so its definitely affordable!" Yuki grinned playfully. "I guarantee, if you wear that on a date, the guy will probably ask you to marry him right then and there!"

Sarena laughed "Right. In the midst of conspiring attacks against aristocrats, like I'll have time to go on date?"

"Well y'know…Kotyro is pretty cute."

The black haired girl stuck out her tongue "Ewww! He is WAY too old!"

"He's only 22!"

Sarena gaped, letting out a loud guffaw. "You're kidding! I thought he was like, 30!"

Yuki let out an even bigger laugh "No!" she chuckled then walked out of the room. "Change back and lets go. I'm starving!"

**0000000**

Good thing she persuaded me to get that dress. Especially if she's right about the marrying thing.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she shook her head in disbelief.

How long will it take to get it through your thick, thick skull, Sarena? He's your brother, he's in love with Netto, and you two are anything but meant to be. GET OVER IT ALREADY!

As she applied the last bit of make-up, a knock on the door penetrated the silence that filled the room. "Who is it?"

"Me!" a familiar male voice called from the other side of the door.

"Come in!"

A sharp looking Enzan entered through the door in a nicely outfitted tux. Violet eyes could see the young man in her mirror, and thus began to repeatedly drill her previous thought into her head.

He's your brother, Sar. Brother!

"What's up?" she asked, looking down and pretending to be fiddling with some make-up thing. In truth, she was trying to avoid looking at him. Not because he looked handsome, but because he was the one person whose opinion mattered to her. She didn't know what he'd say about her all dressed up.

"Just wondering when you were going to be ready."

"Oh, um…in a few." She responded quietly. She got up from her seat and walked over to her standing closet, revealing to him only the backside of her dress.

"Do, uh…do you want me to wait outside?"

She nodded and spoke with a soft, solemn tone. "Yeah, I think that'd be best."

Enzan, completely perplexed at this moment by her meek attitude, exited the room.

Falling back on her bed, she let out a large sigh. What's he going to say, sar? 'oh, you look horrible!' Just go out there with a smile. She argued with herself. But what if he says that with a disapproving look.. What if he says I look nice, but his expression tells me he thinks otherwise?

She imagined what Yuki would say to her. 'Do you think you look nice?'

Standing in front of the mirror, she nodded. "I do."

Then get your butt out there!

Smiling, she walked out to meet her brother.

"W-wow." He said surprised "You look very nice."

She beamed. "Thank you. And you look handsome yourself."

Enzan chuckled "Heh. Thanks."

"I'm sure Netto will be impressed." She added with a wink

His face turned a bit red as he scratched the back of his head. "Are you going to tease me about that forever?"

"Only until you ask him to marry you." she laughed, only to cover up her internal sadness. Which I am not looking forward to that day, but I can't let him know that.

"Oh jeeze." He shook his head. As they walked, he cleared his throat, obviously nervous about something. "Y-you think he'll be impressed?"

Sarena only laughed and shook her head, walking on ahead of him.

"What?" he called out, now stopped in the middle of the hallway.

She turned upon reaching the stairway. "We'll see." She grinned, then proceeded to walk down the steps.

**0000000**

That night, they rode in the van with Enzan in the very back seat, and Sarena in the middle. When they picked Netto up, she watched the facial expressions of the two young men.

It's so obvious they want each other.

After Netto had conversed with Kotryo, she noticed his demeanor was one of worry. Enzan criticized her of being over analytical, and the two of them enganged in a friendly yet pointless argument. To most, it sounded bitter. But the two of them knew it was a mixture of teasing; a way to get back at her for earlier.

As they dropped Netto off at sci-lab, she watched his look toward Enzan.

I'm gonna have to get used to this sometime sooner or later.

**0000000**

Arisa: Chapter ten complete!

Icy: Woot! Double digits

Arisa: yeah, I haven't got much to say about this chapter, except the fact that it gives you a little background information. If you noticed in chapter nine, Shuuseki kisses the back of her hand. She whines and says something like "oh how I'm sure that's not the first time he's wanted to do that." This chapter explains her reasoning behind that. (the bar scene)

Icy: also, at the beginning of the story (yes, story. Not chapter), many started out wondering if she was a good guy or bad guy…er…girl. We see her become closer to Enzan through out the story, but only in the last chapter was it spelled out that she had feelings for him. Most of this story has narrated Enzan's feelings and emotions about certain events, but its not really until this chapter have we explained Sarena's view. In chapter two, we see 'mika' act like a friendly stranger. She doesn't show any attraction, but this explains the internal conflict behind her happy-go-lucky eyes.

Arisa: It also gives you readers a choice to make. Who would make a better couple? Yaoi or incest:P Those are some great choices, eh?

Icy: XD. Indeed. I like Netto x Enzan seeing as I'm devout yaoi fan girl, but at the same time, Sarena reminds me of one of those people you just want to give a fairy tale ending to. She's very selfless, and as much as she tries to ignore her feelings, she can't help but fall in love with the one person who happens to be her long lost step-brother. She didn't grow up with parents, and spent a good portion of her teen years dancing at a bar for pay, all because she wanted to be free to get revenge on Shuuseki.

Arisa: Interestingly enough, out of all my characters, Yuki seems to be the most influential. (And Yuki is the nickname of one my old friends) She prompts Sarena to "get up and start walking." We see Sarena use this card of advice towards Enzan about his problems, and Yuki is the one who introduces her to Kotyro.

Icy: Kotyro is somewhat of a funny character. We don't know much about him except he's a big man with a gruff demeanor. He lost his wife the same way Sarena lost her parents and he can royally freak anyone out. (Sarena when they first meet, Enzan when they're in the helicopter, and Netto when he wanders into Vengeance) I love how Sarena thought he was thirty when he was only twenty two. It explains why there isn't any indication of love between them in the story. Being that he looks old, he acts it somewhat and actually looks after Sarena like a daughter.

Arisa: eek! You spoiler!

Icy: It's kinda implied though.

Arisa: meh, true. Well anyways, Read, review. Y'know the drill (and when I say review, **I mean it!**)


	11. Chapter 11: The Red Key

**Chapter 11:** The Red Key

**0000000**

Walking out of a hospital recovery room, brown eyes and red hair noticed a familiar face sitting on a bench in the hospital hallway next to a dark haired young man.

"What's Netto doing here?" She whispered to her pink navi rhetorically.

"I don't know, but it's probably not good." Roll sighed from within her PET. "First Ms. Kokemura and now this. Seems like everyone's dying!"

"Hm…" Meriu frowned, and approached the Brunette. "Netto!"

He quickly snapped his head toward the approaching female. "Meriu-chan, what're you doing here?"

"My piano teacher had a stroke. I thought I'd visit her to bring some flowers." She explained, then looked concerned, "What about you?"

He nodded toward the room behind him. "Darkloid incident victim. I just wanted to make sure she made it out."

As usual, the word _she_ sparked some jealousy with Meriu. "Oh, is she going to be okay?"

"We don't know." Netto shook his head and sighed. Meriu looked past the brunette to see who was sitting beside him. But the young man was cradling his head in his hands, and all that could be seen was a mess of black hair.

She lowered her voice to a whisper "Who's that?"

"Her brother." He whispered back.

"Oh." As soon as she said this, the stranger looked up at Meriu.

_Why does he look so familiar? _

"I'm sorry to hear about your sister." She frowned sympathetically.

"Don't be. It's not your fault." He said rather matter-of-factly. _It's mine…_

"Well…but I feel bad." She seemed a bit shocked by his response. As always, it was a hard comment to counter. "I just…I couldn't imagine having a family member being put in the hospital under such conditions."

"hm." He nodded

"I'm Meriu." She held out a hand to the stranger.

"Ryuke." He responded, taking the hand and shaking it lightly. He quickly resumed cradling his head once more.

_Not talkative much. Though the name doesn't ring a bell, I sense I've met this guy before._

"Netto…Could I speak to you a moment?" she prodded, causing the brunette to stand up and walk with her out of ear-shot.

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" He asked once they had entered a different hallway, genuinely interested in what she had to say.

"Have I met that guy before? He seems familiar, but I can't put my finger on it!" she shook her head. "Also…"

Netto cocked his head to the side, "Also what?"

"I have a bad feeling about him. Okay, maybe not him personally, but I feel like there's danger following him…or you. I can't really tell, it's just…there, I guess." She sighed, using hand gestures as she tried to communicate her intuition. "Am I making any sense?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I know what you mean. I mean I don't feel that, but I understand what you're saying. Like there could be danger ahead if I get too involved with him, right?"

"Exactly!" she exclaimed, "Almost like the EXACT same feeling when you started the net savior job with Enzan!"

Netto gulped. Judging by the fact that the stranger _was _ Enzan, that she had the same danger intuition before, and was right about it, made him nervous. Sarena was on the verge of losing there life. How much more danger could there be in store for them?

"Yoo-hoo, earth to Netto!" Meriu waved her hand in front of dazed brunette.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." He shook his head as if to shake off the deep thinking.

"Are you alright? I mean, the day before yesterday you were utterly depressed, yesterday you were flying higher than a kite, and now today you're spacing on me. What's going on, Netto?"

"I…uh, nothing Meriu. I'm fine. I guess finals must've been getting to me. I was up pretty late studying for them, y'know."

Meriu raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. "You? Study? Please, Netto, I'm insulted. You think I'd believe that?" It was true. There were occasions when he did do his homework, but he had never studied for anything in his life. "I know you better than that, Netto. Something's up, and I'm worried about you." she frowned sympathetically.

"I…" he started to tell her, but reality sunk in. Though she might believe him about Enzan, Netto knew he could never tell her about his feelings for him. "I can't say. You wouldn't understand, and even I'm not sure. I'm under a lot of stress, and so many things have changed in the past couple of days, it's just really hard to take in."

"I wouldn't understand? Netto, you can talk to me about anything, you know that!" she frowned, deeply hurt by his refusal to speak.

"Anything but this. Believe me." He narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists, almost frightening the poor girl, "If you want to help, just back off, okay?"

Meriu was rendered speechless as the infuriated brunette turned his back and began to walk away. _Netto, what's wrong with you? Why are you being such a jerk!? _As she stood there, a tear began to trickle down her cheek. It wasn't long before he had gone out of sight and she leaned her forehead against a wall, letting her tears fall onto the floor. _Will things ever be the way they used to be?_

**0000000**

Netto and Enzan looked up from their seats when a doctor approached. His expression was solemn, and all the two could do was hope for the best.

"Mr. Sokashite?" he asked, causing the black haired young man to stand quickly.

"Yes? How is she?"

The doctor looked down. "I'm sorry…" He began. Time seemed to freeze in the seconds he took to complete his sentence, "She didn't make it."

"What?" Enzan froze, his voice cracking to a whisper, "no…"

Netto frowned, tears filling his eyes. He embraced the young man not only to comfort him, but to keep him stable.

"I'm sorry." The doctor frowned.

Enzan pulled away and began to pace around. "Damnit!" He threw his fist against the wall, "Damnit!" He fell on his knees, tears pouring from his eyes. "Sarena…" he whispered, "I'm sorry."

Meriu, who had found that the only way to exit the hospital was to walk past the boys, noticed the commotion. "Oh god…" she whispered out loud. She was about to approach them until she remembered Netto's previous advice _If you want to help, just back off, okay?_

_Fine. _She thought. _I will. I'm sure you can handle this yourself, Netto. _

Tearing her eyes away from the three, she proceeded to walk by without a word. Netto, however, was too entrenched in comforting Enzan to notice nor care.

"It can't be…" the distraught young man sat there, shaking his head. "God, if only I hadn't crossfused with him, I could've protected her. She let herself go…if only I hadn't told her. If only…damn Shuuseki!"

Netto sat there, patting Enzan on the back. He knew how easy it was to start blaming everyone, anything when in such a state of despair. "You did all you could do. It's not your fault."

"No, it is my fault. If we hadn't gone after Blues tonight, she'd still be alive. If I hadn't crossfused with him, I could have protected her!" His voice began to crack as the tears began to flow more freely "If…if only I hadn't told her…how I felt…she wouldn't have been hurting…If only we had grown up together…if only my…She wouldn't … dead."

The brunette friend sat quiet. There wasn't much he could say to bring Enzan out of his state of if-only's. It also shocked Netto to see him so emotionally broken. Years ago, Netto had to practically kill Enzan to get him to shed a tear of sadness over Blues' dark soul. What had made Sarena so different?

If only I hadn't opened up to her the day she found me. Maybe I would be dead with Shuuseki, but she'd still be alive and happy. Enzan clenched his fist, digging his nails into his palm as flood of regret ate at his soul.

Does Enzan love her too? Netto pondered. No, he would've told her…wouldn't he? Maybe he was afraid to tell her since I was there. If only I hadn't gone to him for help with Rockman, he could've saved Blues. "I'm sorry, Enzan-kun."

Enzan simply nodded his head in acknowledgement of the apology.

"Sokatishe-san, there is some paperwork that needs to be filled out at the front desk when you're ready." Enzan lifted his head and nodded to the doctor as well. It was if someone had turned off his voice to keep him from saying words he'd later regret.

This is why you don't get close to people, Enzan. This is why you pay no attention to emotions. Why? Because it keeps everyone safe.

**0000000**

"Sarena…" she could hear a soft, sweet sounding voice like a flowing honey melody calling to her. "Wake up. You need to wake up."

"I can't…" she whispered.

"You have to wake up. Your brother needs you." the voice, almost as if from a memory, prodded.

"It hurts to be alive." She whimpered back.

The beautiful, feminine voice seemed to grow more and more familiar. "It's not your time yet, Sarena."

"He doesn't need me."

"Yes he does. You need each other. Something is about to happen that will hinder your mission. Enzan cannot handle it alone. Help him… Ena-chan."

"…Mother?"

"The red key. Find the red key, and keep it away from Shuuseki."

"What do you mean 'red key'?"

"You'll find out soon. Time to wake up, Ena-chan."

**0000000**

"DOCTOR!" a man ran out of the room shouting, "Doctor!"

The doctor dressed in a white lab coat turned to the spastic assistant surgeon. "Calm down, what's the matter?"

"She's alive!"

"What?!" the three echoed each other.

In the course of a nano second, Enzan was on his feet, eyes wide like saucers. "What'd you say?"

"She's alive! We were just about wrap it up when one of the other guys decided to-"

Enzan, who decided to hear the miracle story later, ran into the emergency room. There it was, the heart monitor beeping with the sweet monotonous sound of vitality. Of course, her eyes were closed and she was unconscious, but at least she was alive.

He held onto her hand tightly and brushed a bit of hair out of her face _I've been given a second chance. _

"Excuse me sir, we need to finish the operation. If you could please step aside." One of the surgeons prompted.

"Only if she'll make it alive."

"Sir, she didn't come back only to die again." The surgeon reasoned.

Enzan nodded and as gently leaned over to kiss her forehead, still holding onto her hand. Letting go, he stepped outside while the doctors began to bandage and fix the black haired young woman. Netto, who had caught up seconds earlier, joined him. He could see the smile creasing Enzan's lips and the life restored to his eyes.

"She must be bullet proof." Netto joked.

"I don't even wanna know how." Enzan shook his head. "But this time I'll do it right."

They stood there in silence a few seconds, medical terms and commands filling the air. "Enzan?" Netto prodded, breaking their quietness.

"Hai?"

"Do you love her?" he asked rather bluntly.

He took a deep breath. "Though I don't think I've ever loved someone so much, it's a family kind of love."

"I'm surprised," Netto started, "I mean, today's been full of surprises. The fact that she came back to life is not only shocking in itself, but you…"

Enzan finally unhooked his eyes from the operating table to look at the brunette "I what?"

Netto grinned teasingly. "I've never seen you so emotional."

The minutely older boy set a scowl on his face before looking back into the emergency room. "Don't get used to it, Hikari."

"It's a good thing, Enzan."

He lightly smacked the brunette on the arm. "Stop using my name!" he ordered sternly.

"Oh sorry, _Ryuke._"

Enzan rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

They were silent until, once again, Netto spoke up. "But seriously, why don't you show your emotions more?"

The other sighed and shrugged. "I dunno. I guess it's just 'cause I'm a guy."

Netto raised his eyebrow. "So because I show my emotions mean's I'm not?"

"Well your softness can be quite girly at times." Enzan slid past half a grin.

"Hey!" the brunette crossed his arms defiantly. "I resent that!"

"But then again, I've seen you with Meriu, and for a girly guy, you're pretty dense around her." His smirk turned into a full-flegged grin. "So I guess you've got a little manliness left in you."

"So that would mean you're girly seeing as you understand Sarena?"

"Are you kidding me? She's impossible to figure out! You think I understand her? Think again. I had no idea how she felt this whole time, when the signs were right in front of me."

"Touché." Netto nodded. "But there's also that little hair flicking thing…"

at the mention, Enzan looked over to see the brunette making a dramatic impression of his earlier habit. Netto changed his tone to a haughty, gay sounding voice. "I am soooo much better than you! hah!"

"Hmph," was the only reply from Enzan, who had turned his gaze away. However, this was only to hide the blush and laughing look on his face caused by the somewhat accurate demonstration. He remembered being a stuck up brat when they first met, and the hair flicking was an act he had done to reassure his pride. Looking back, he felt like an absolute girl for doing it.

"I see you! You're laughing! Hah!" Netto poked the other.

"Don't touch me." Enzan sent him another scowl, pushing him away. He looked rather funny as he desperately tried to, and failed to, stop smiling.

This command only served to make Netto poke his arm more. Enzan rolled his eyes. "You really haven't changed much, have you?"

"Nope, but I'm not the only one!" Netto acted out his dramatic hair-flicking demonstration once again, causing Enzan to punch him lightly on the shoulder and laugh a little more.

"Funny," he shot back finally unenthused. "At least I don't carry on a long tradition of density."

"You must float pretty well then." Netto joked with his play on words

Enzan sighed. "Hey! Let's play a game! The first one to talk, loses!"

The brunette nodded. Within seconds, Enzan could feel someone poking his arm. He pushed Netto's hand away a few times, until turning to yell at him. "cut it out!"

"Hah! I win!" Netto grinned childishly. "You owe me a net-battle once we get Blues back."

The black haired teen smirked. "Fair enough. But you know-"

"'Don't expect me to go easy'. Yeah yeah, I know. I've heard it a million times! " Netto crossed his arms confidently. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Up until this time, Blues hadn't really crossed Enzan's mind as only a factor in Sarena's near-death experience. Now that Netto had brought up the subject of the red navi, he found himself faced with a flood of questions, particularly pertaining to Rockman and Blues' relationship.

_Why did Blues call him _'love'_? Does he really feel the same way about rock as I do Netto?_

"By the way," Enzan began, "how is Rockman?"

Netto pulled out his PET. "Still asleep. I could feel him draining from my energy when we crossfused. Good thing I had plenty to spare. He should be okay in a couple of hours."

"You two!" Both of the teens turned to see an old friend approaching. "God, you two are impossible to find."

"Nice to see you too, Laika." Netto rolled his eyes.

"Netto." The aqua haired man nodded as if greeting the teen.

"Did you find out anything about Blues?" Enzan spoke up

"Yes, but it's…unfortunate."

The black haired teen furrowed his eyebrows as he frowned. "Well don't hesitate."

"He mentioned Regal."

"What the hell?!" Netto exclaimed rather loudly, "Isn't he supposed to be DEAD!?"

"Seems like everyone's coming back from the grave," Enzan rolled his eyes, "literally."

"Also," Laika interrupted the two, "He mentioned your father, Enzan."

"I knew he had something to do with this…"

"Now hold on. I have a suspicion that Blues is actually after Shuuseki."

"What do you mean?" Enzan asked cautiously

"I have a feeling, if Regal really is still alive, they're after power. Someone bought the booster system, but Blues never found out who. The easiest way to get a duplicate is to go right to the source."

"IPC's head honcho." Netto mused. "Smart."

"Right. So the only way to get to Blues is if we go to Shuuseki." Laika concluded

"No." Enzan replied firmly. "We can't get to him, and we definitely cannot let him know what's happened to Blues."

"Why not? What can he do to you? You're supposed to be dead." Netto explained. "And as for Blues, why can't Shuuseki know?"

"Shuuseki doesn't even recognize me. How would we get to him? And as for keeping Blues away, my father's got the means to reverse the darksoul as well. Last thing Blues needs is to experience is another younger me." Enzan sighed. "Ruuku is just as bad, perhaps worse than I was. Blues was the only one there for me when my father got angry, and I feel really bad for being a jerk towards him anyways. Blues doesn't deserve to go through that again, and if he's put into Ruuku's hands, I know he will."

Netto grinned. "Plus, there's no one that could operate him as well as you."

The two turned toward the brunette as if it were a shock to hear what sounded like a compliment towards Enzan

"Well it's true! We're each connected to our own navi's. I couldn't operate Searchman as well as Laika, and neither of you could operate Rockman as well as I can."

"True. So this mean's we have to protect Shuuskei?" Laika asked.

"No, we've got to protect Blues."

**0000000**

The next day, A pink navi sat frustrated with her operator's lack of communication. "Meriu-chan, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Roll. I've told you that about a hundred times now!" The redhead snapped as she paced around the room frantically. Her actions seemed to dramatically change as she paused in the middle of her frilly pink room. "Hey, why don't we take a trip to internet city?" she offered rather happily.

"Ooookay…" Roll reluctantly agreed. _Talk about a mood swing. I swear, if I could, I would kill Netto. EVERYTIME he does something stupid, Meriu-chan loses it!_

"Plug in, Roll."

Within a few seconds, the pink navi was online in the virtual world. The streets were pretty busy, with Christmas just around the corner. "By the way, what're we looking for?"

"Oh, no one."

"I meant items, meriu-chan."

"Oh yeah, that too." she added. "Nothing."

Roll sighed and rolled her eyes. It was hopeless. Pulling her operator out of complete annoyance towards Netto usually took days. It was while the navi's eyes were tracing her eyelids, that she did not notice a navi heading her way. Needless to say it took her quite off guard when the navi bumped into her shoulder, causing her to lose her balance and fall backward.

"Roll!" Meriu exclaimed

"I'm fine."

"Gomenasai." The stranger held out a hand toward the pink navi.

"That's alright." She laughed, taking the hand which lifted her so gracefully. When her eyes met the stranger, however, an odd mixture of shock and happiness filled her being. "Ahhh! Blues, long time no see!"

"Hello, Roll-chan." He bowed slightly for her, shocking meriu, whom watched their interaction scrupulously.

_Eh, he's acting much more polite than normal. Especially toward Roll? Something doesn't make sense. _Meriu thought as she continued to examine the situation.

"So what are you out shopping for?" she asked curiously

"Nothing in particular." He replied. "It's been a while since I've had time to relax. I'm starting to get used to it."

Alright, that's also wrong. He's had plenty of time to relax since Enzan died, and I remember way back when he was reluctant to take a break with Rockman and Roll to go shopping after the incident with Forte. He certainly wouldn't go on his own without a command from Enzan or an invitation from someone else.

"I see. Mind if I join you?" She asked with big eyes, folding her hands behind her.

"Be my guest."

She smiled as they began to wander around internet city. Neither of them had any real purpose, or so it seemed, to even be online. It had been a while since the two interacted. Roll reasoned his politeness must've come as a result as less influence from Enzan. He probably was a really nice guy she thought, Enzan probably just expected him to be withdrawn like himself. I like this new Blues. Kinda cute, too… she giggled slightly at her own thoughts, sparking interest in the navi striding beside her.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thought of a funny thought, that's all. So how have you been since, y'know, Enzan's accident?"

The navi looked straight ahead. "Alright, I suppose. I really don't want to talk about it."

She looked down. "I'm sorry…" she responded solemnly.

He turned to her and smiled. "Don't be. It's not your fault."

A thought clicked in Meriu's head. I've heard that before…where have I heard that before?

"Well I feel bad. I don't know what I'd do without Meriu-chan." Roll smiled sympathetically. "If there's anything you need, just let us know."

"Of course." He smiled again, sending a chill down her non-existent spine.

She turned to the side to hide her blushing face. "So…its been a while since we've met and I wasn't in distress." She chuckled.

"Too long." He said simply.

Has blues had a crush on Roll all this time? The watching redhead mused.

The dark red navi (though neither females realized how much darker) turned to roll and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I just realized I have an errand to run, but I would like to talk to you and your net-op later, if that's alright."

"Sure. What time?"

"5:30 should suffice. Meet me at this address." He handed her a slip of paper before taking her hand and kissing the back of it. "Adieu."

Roll stood there stunned, confused as Blues linked out of the area with a red stream of light.

"Roll-chan…what just happened?" Meriu asked, opening a screen link to the pink navi.

"I…have…no idea." She stood there dazed. Without a thought, she pulled the hand he kissed to her crest.

"Ooooh! Somebody has a crush! Look like Rockman's outa the picture, hm?"

"No! Meriu-chan, it's not like that." She snapped her hand back to her side, "It's just…the only time any one's ever treated me so respectfully was when we met Glyde, and he's polite to everyone."

"What about Gutsman?"

Roll let out a laugh before shaking her head. "He and Dekkao try to be polite and respectful and sweet, but the word there is try. Neither of them ever succeed to sweep us off our feet."

Meriu grinned, "And you're saying that Blues accomplished that within five minutes?"

She looked away, feebly trying to hide her explanatory face. "Well…I wouldn't say he swept me off my feet…"

"So what do you call that air below you?"

Roll looked down to find herself levitating.

"ACK!"

upon landing harshly upon her bottom, she winced, after breaking out of a gravity defying trance. "Ow…"

**0000000**

Arisa: Aw, c'mon now. Do you really think I'd kill off Sarena?

Icy: XD literal translation of being swept off your feet, eh?

Arisa: I thought it'd be cute. Is it just me, or is something not adding up though?

Icy: you're right. And that's what you call a plot twister :P

Arisa: okay, the only thing I have to say about this chapter is Meriu's reference of when Blues went shopping with Rockman and Roll. In the manga (vol. 5) after Saitostyle Rockman defeats Forte, the three of them go perusing through netcity, Rockman being happier than happy to be doing something normal for once. Blues says something to the effect of he doesn't know why he had to come along. Roll responds by saying that she thinks he has a nice sense of style and maybe he could offer something advice… And right after that they get chased by a mob of Rockman fans. (I'm serious. Get the manga, it's hilarious!) Then they fall in a pit, Menjin shows up to tell rock and blues that they're pretty much second rate, and Rockman goes after him through a little warp hole. Blues goes to roll who'd been knocked unconscious to ask her if she's okay. She seems a little unnerved that Rockman's gone and Blues is the one helping her up. He walks away (rather sexily, I might add) saying "I'm afraid we'll have to shop an other time. Being rated useless…" and Enzan finishes his sentence, "is not something we'll take lying down!" Roll doesn't say anything, but her expression leaves room for speculation.

Icy: So there's our source. Seriously, check out the manga. If you like the anime, you'll looooooooooove the manga. Now that we have most the series, the anime looks like a third rate attempt at a good representation of the real Rockman story line.

Arisa: well said. Now, readers, REVIEW! –fumes- I can't improve if I'm not critiqued! My goal is to become one of the best authors alive.

Icy: I thought it was to learn Japanese?

Arisa: -cackles evily. Too distracted to hear- MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Icy: …Okay, yeah. Like she said. Review please.


	12. Chapter 12: Resentment Creates Darkness

**Chapter 12: **Resentment Creates Darkness

"Roll, are you sure this is the right address?" Meriu asked as she cautiously approached an old deserted arcade.

"Does the sign say Silva?"

"Yeah…" she paused, looking around for any sign of life as she entered, "I have a bad feeling about this though."

"Blues wouldn't bring us here if it weren't safe, though."

"Roll, something about that navi was different. I know you think it's because- eek!" Meriu jumped as the door slammed shut behind her, along with all other windows and potential escape routes.

"Meriu-chan!" Roll exclaimed "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but all the doors just shut and locked!" Meriu ran up to the door, pulling on the handle desperately, but her futile attempts only served to drain all hope of survival.

"Jack me in, I'll unlock the door!"

"'Kay!" Meriu ceased pulling on the door long enough to jack Roll into the lock's cyber matrix.

"Meriu-chan…it's deserted…" she spoke, her voice slightly quivering.

"Not quite."

Roll spun around to face the speaker who had nearly given the poor navi a heart attack. "Blues! What on earth is going on here?"

"Tell Meriu to proceed inside…if you want her to live."

The pink navi gaped, confused, then realized the whole meeting had been a set up. "Meriu-chan…" Roll gave her operator a certain look.

The red head nodded. "Area Steal! Widesword! Download!"

Roll landed behind blues, ready to slice him in an instant. But the dark navi had predicted her attack so accurately, that she found herself on the floor with a deep gash in her side.

"Roll!"

DarkBlues now hovered over the wounded navi, sword lying gently against her throat. "Meriu, if you two want to live…if you don't want me to delete your precious Roll, you'll proceed to the innermost room."

The teen grit her teeth. "Fine."

DarkBlues smirked as he removed the sword, letting Roll rise weakly to her feet. "For the record, if you try any funny stuff, I _will _ delete her."

Meriu sneered, but did as she was told. Jacking her navi out from the net, she wandered into the dark room. The first room looked like a waiting area, so she assumed the innermost room was the arcade. Upon arriving, she heard another door behind her slam shut.

What the hell is going on here? I don't like this one bit… 

When the room began to shake, and what looked like translucent hexagons formed up every wall, her heart began to sink. But it wasn't until DarkBlues entered the dimensional area that she really lost hope.

"Now meriu, there's no need to look so afraid!"

"What do you want?"

"We want you to join us." he began to approach her

"Join who?! And why me?" as he walked closer, she began to step backward.

"Who we are, I cannot say. But you do feel resentment, don't you?"

"Resentment? No…and how can you expect me to join something, if I don't even know what I'm joining?"

"I'm disappointed in you, Sakurai. I thought you were smart enough to figure this out."

"Figure what out? That you're being creepier than normal?" she felt herself back away a little faster as he continued to walk toward her.

DarkBlues simply ignored the snide remark. "What about Netto?"

Meriu frowned. "I don't know, what about him?"

"Why isn't he here, saving you?"

"I didn't tell him I was coming…I don't need him to save me anyways!" by this point she was cornered between him and the wall.

The dark navi grinned. "That's right." letting a chip appear in his hand, he continued, "With this, you can save yourself, and prove to Netto that you don't need," he paused and whispered in her ear, "a savior." While whispering, he took her hand and placed the chip in hers. Backing away, he watched confidently as she looked at the chip curiously.

"What is it?" she looked at it closer, her voice trembling with uncertainty, "a synchro chip?"

"Not just a synchro chip. This has ten times the power of a normal synchro chip, letting any…untrained civilian take out a trained net savior."

"But, I'm not good at crossfusing," she paused and stared at him intently, "and why are you giving this to me anyways?"

He turned his back, smirking. "Lets just say I need a favor. But I want you to have that chip as a gift." He turned. "Why don't you try it now?"

Meriu studied the chip once more; it didn't look any different than the normal synchro chips she had seen before, and synchro chips never harmed anyone before. "And if I refuse…?" At this point, she seriously began to consider taking the chip.

"It's a gift, remember? Don't you want Netto to know you can save yourself?"

Meriu hesitated. _If I can prove to Netto that I'm not that weak, maybe he'll take me more seriously. Maybe he'd like me…_

"Ready, Roll?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" The pink navi asked calmly, but her eyes were wide in anticipation.

Meriu looked at the dark navi then at her own. "It'll be fine. We're just trying it out anyway."

"Okay…if you say so."

The red head slid the chip into her pink PET. To a normal passerby (not that there were any, mind you), it would've looked like a normal crossfusion, but the results proved contrary.

**0000000**

"hn…hm…" Purple eyes began to flutter open as the cloudiness of her mind began to clear up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a black haired teen look at her anxiously. "Enzan…? What am I?" she felt her neck ache as she turned to face him, and squinting made her pain obvious.

"Try not to move your head," he instructed, prompting her to look back straight ahead in a more comfortable position. "You're in the hospital."

"hmm…" she thought carefully, "I remember now." Her eyes narrowed, as if she were trying to remember something. "I had a dream…about mother. She was telling me something…a red key."

"Red key?"

"That's what I said. She told me to find the red key. She kept telling me to wake up, that something was going to happen, and you were going to need me." Sarena paused, "It wasn't like any other dream. I couldn't see anything, but I could hear her. And you know how most dreams last for the length of your sleep? This was just a minute or two long. Maybe five…I can't really remember. All I know is that there was nothing, the dream, and then a whole lot more nothing." She laughed. "I know it sounds insane."

"Are you sure it was her?"

"She called me 'ena-chan.'…" she paused, her voice quieting, "…My parents were the only ones who called me that."

Enzan gave a thoughtful look, but he predicted it was just a dream and nothing more.

"But it was so weird. I feel like I wasn't dreaming... it felt like she was speaking to my soul." Sarena laughed. "Must be the pain medication getting to me."

He chuckled then held her hand tightly. "One-chan…Why didn't you tell me?"

She closed her eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. "What good would it have done? You love him and we're related. There's no way it could've gone anywhere. I tried to ignore it. I tried to make it go away. I really thought I could, but I guess I was wrong…and when it came time to when Blues was about to take my life, it seemed like letting him kill me would be the easiest way to make those feelings go away." She paused, trying to hold back the warm tears pooling in her eyes, "I try so hard to never get attached to anyone. Feelings leave room for vulnerability, and all of the sudden when you're not looking, those feelings stab you in the heart… where it hurts the most." She paused to regain her composure and swallow the large lump in her throat that kept her from saying what she wanted to say. "But you…something about you…it was like no matter how hard I tried, I had to admit that I was in love."

"Sarena…did you know that for a few minutes, you stopped breathing? The doctor came out and told me that you were gone. I thought I had lost you…" he looked down, now trying to hold back his own tears, "Those minutes…were the worst few minutes of my life. I hadn't felt that way since Shuuseki told me that mother had died, and this time, it was worse. Because I know you, and I never really knew her."

"I died?"

"Basically. A surgeon ran out of the room a few minutes later exclaiming, 'she's alive! She's alive!' And that," he smiled, "was the best moment of my life."

Ignoring her pain, she turned her head towards him. As her own tear rolled down her cheek, she wiped away the one slipping out of the corner of his eye. "Enzan…what am I supposed to do?"

He smiled, taking her hand and holding in firmly in his. "A good friend of mine once said, 'get up and do something about your problems.'" He chuckled, "Then she invited me over for macaroni and cheese."

Sarena laughed, blushing a bit. "I guess you're right." Enzan smiled as the color resurfaced in her cheeks, which previously had looked pale and sickly. "When I get better, I'll get up and walk…" she chuckled and added meekly, "and…actually…I'm kinda hungry."

"Do you want me to get you something?"

"If you could…y'know, since you said macaroni and cheese…"

"Say no more. One plate of mac and cheese comin' up!" he got up, leaving Sarena a little shocked. "Anything else?" He asked, pausing as he began to walk away.

"Well…if it wouldn't be too much trouble…I haven't had a brownie in a while either."

"Alright, one macaroni and cheese, and one brownie. I'll be right back." He said, grinning as he exited the recovery room. In his silly haste, he failed to notice the two other young men entering, and nearly ran into them.

"Geeze, watch where you're going Enzan!" Netto sighed indignantly.

"Is she awake?" Laika asked more calmly.

He nodded. "Let me introduce you." Enzan opened the door wider to let the two in. "Sarena, you've met Netto, but this is the other person who helped us last night, Laika-san."

"Pleased to meet you." The aqua-haired one responded formally.

"Thank you," she started, "for helping my brother last night. If it weren't for you, actually, we wouldn't have gotten Rockman back, and well, I'd probably be dead!" she chuckled, then looked at Netto. "And thank you. I'm sorry I acted so foolish, giving up like that."

"Nah, just try not to scare us like that again! Poor Enzan was so upset, he was acting much more emotional than normal!" Netto grinned teasingly at Enzan, who was now shooting daggers toward the brunette.

"Netto-kun!" The blue navi scolded. Netto was making Enzan uncomfortable, and Rockman was rebuking him for it; yes, things seemed to be back to normal, for the first time in a long time.

Neither of the two net saviors noticed the third, however, whom seemed to be more focused on the female than the non-verbal, childish bickering. But it wasn't long until Enzan had finally gotten over Netto's comment that he began to formulate a plan from observing Laika.

"Say Netto…I was about to get some food for Sarena. Mind coming with me?"

"But…can't you have it delivered to the room?" Netto looked at him cluelessly.

Enzan grabbed hold of the brunette's sleeve and began dragging him out of the room. "It's cheaper this way. I'm not made of money anymore, you know?"

"eh?!" Netto looked a bit dumbfounded as he found himself being moved out of the room without his feet actually walking.

As the door shut behind them, Sarena laughed as she watched them walk by the window, Enzan walking straight ahead, dragging what looked like a limp and annoyed Netto along.

Those two get along like an old couple. It's kinda cute, actually.

"So how did you and Enzan meet?" Laika asked, sitting down where Enzan had previously been seated.

"Well," she began and sat up more comfortably in her bed, "After his father kicked him out, it was just by chance that I ran into him. We introduced and his eyes told me right away that we were related; they're the same as my mothers." She looked down. "They're pretty distinctive, y'know?"

"hm."

"After I found out he was shuuseki's son, I knew for sure that I'd found my step-brother." _I totally didn't expect to be swept off my feet though! _

"I find it curious, though." Laika mused, giving her a suspicious look "How did you get all three of us into the banquet?"

Sarena looked at him cautiously, but responded confidently. "I know some basic hacking tricks, and with Enzan's help, we were able to put our name's on IPC's guest list with ease." She cocked her head to the side (which the pain made her soon regret), and gave him a innocent look, "Is that so curious?"

Laika shook his head, a little embarrassed by his jumping to conclusions. "No-no. I forgot you had Enzan helping you. Forgive me."

"hm." Her expression relaxed and she let out a smile. "You're forgiven. So you work in Shaaro, right?"

**0000000**

"_Why _ did you insist on me coming with you again?" Netto whined as the reached the hospital cafeteria.

"How alike would you say Laika and I are?"

The brunette let out a snort, "When it comes to being a jerk, one hundred percent!"

Enzan shot a glare at him, "I'm serious."

Netto chuckled, "Well you should've said so! Hm…" he scratched his head in thought then looked at the older as they stood in line. "Pretty similar. You both can be pretty distant, independent, but if someone you cared for were hurt, you'd save them in an instant. You both pretend to be callous, but I can tell you've both got a soft side just waiting to be expressed. Oh yeah and you both like tea, though you prefer coffee."

This time Enzan looked at him with a more thoughtful expression. "I…well…I suppose after years of knowing us, you'd be pretty accurate…" But to be brutally honest, he was freaked out by how accurate Netto's analysis was.

"I got it right on the dot, hm? I am just _that_ good!" Netto exclaimed proudly. "But what does that have to do with you dragging me along?!"

"Do you remember what Sarena said last night? When you called for the ambulance?"

"Oh yeah, she basically said she loves you, right?"

"Right and what I'm thinking is, maybe if I introduced Laika and Sarena, and let them get to know each other -without you there to mess it up- it might get her to fall in love with someone else. And since even you said Laika and I are pretty similar, he'd be the type of guy she'd fall for."

"ooooooh." Netto moved his head, showing that he understood, "So how do you think this will work? He works for the government, and she works for a supposed net terrorism organization."

Enzan paused his gate, looking at the brunette. "Kuso…I hadn't thought of that…"

Netto raised his eyebrows, "wow, I thought of something you didn't?"

It wasn't long before the older had conjured an idea and continued walking. "How hard was it for me to convince you that we're not terrorists though?"

"I guess with the proper explaining it wasn't hard. But also…I wanted to believe you. Laika…he's skeptical of everyone and everything." He looked at Enzan, "another similar trait between you two."

"He could want to believe her if he fell in love with her." Enzan smirked, remembering how Netto felt about him. A pink tinge of blush painted his cheeks, though it went unnoticed by the brunette.

"What makes you think he will? Remember, he only ever showed interest in Pride. They may even be dating for all we know."

"No, I talked to Pride a year or so ago, she was going out with some guy from her country." Enzan shrugged, "besides, that's where you come in."

"Me? What?"

"Your mission is to find out if Laika's seeing anyone."

"And what makes you think I'll do that?!" Netto exclaimed

"Because I know you don't like to see people in pain, and if we can get them together, Sarena won't be hurting any more."

"hmmm." Netto whined, "fine. But if this works, you _so_ owe me one!"

"I'll find some way to repay you." Netto began to say something, but Enzan cut him off, "And that does not include a life time supply of curry."

"Dangit." The younger snapped his fingers in defeat. "Spaghetti?"

"What do I look like? A spaghetti machine?" Enzan raised his eyebrow.

"Nah, more like a mac and cheese machine." Netto joked, motioning with his eyes toward the cheesy noodles Enzan was carrying on a tray.

As they got closer to the door, Enzan whispered to the other. "I wonder what they talked about…"

"Want me to ask?"

"no!" Enzan exclaimed as loud as he could while whispering, "and don't say, hint, or make any reference to our plan. Got it?"

"I'm not stupid, Enzan."

"Really? I couldn't tell."

Netto let out an exasperated sigh as he opened the door for Enzan, whom currently had his hands full. "And you say I'm the one who hasn't changed."

**0000000**

On the corner of an obscure street, there lie an old, run down, obscure arcade. The doors, heavy, like garage doors lie sealed shut. It seemed abandoned, with no life remaining inside. But if one put their ear up to the heavy door, they would hear a faint sound; the sound of a female scream.

To taint a navi with digital darkness is a painful process; but their systems were made to handle digital errors and intrusions. To taint a human with the same sort of malice could be deadly and possibly irreversible. Not to mention, _extremely _ excruciating.

"Don't try to resist it, Meriu. You'll be ten times more powerful this way!" DarkBlues watched, hardly phased by the shrills of agony.

"No!" she exclaimed, trying to hold back the darkness threatening to take over her crossfused body. The navi and human, two in one, kneeled on ground, giving everything they had to resist the dark pull.

"Aren't you tired of being cast to the side, being rated useless and helpless? Always needing someone to save you?"

He's right…I'm tired of being the damsel in distress. But is this the way to go? Meriu thought as the rest of her fought with all her strength. 

_Meriu, I'm sorry…this darkness…whatever it is, it's too much. I can't hold back anymore. _ Roll spoke to her human counter part as their thoughts echoed through each other's minds.

I can't hold it alone! Roll! 

The navi, exhausted, let go. On her own, Meriu was soon taken over by the overwhelming power of darkness. She sat there, on all fours, breathing heavily and after catching her breath, lifted her head to face the dark navi. A strange red glow glinted through the iris of her eyes a she cast a deadly glare.

DarkBlues smirked, "Welcome to the team."

"When can we take them down?" she spoke, her voice sounding older and more feminine as she stood up.

"Patience. We need to train your power a little. But you'll get your chance for revenge. I promise. For now, just lie low. We can't let them know about your little trump card."

"So I've got to pretend to like that ass hole?" meriu, or at least what looked like her, scowled. "For how long?"

"Like I said, once we train your power. Our mission is to get Rockman back on the team. You can dispose of Netto, but we need his navi alive."

"So I'm guessing that Roll and I won't be crossfusing then?"

"That's right. Unless you find a way to separate the two, so they can't crossfuse and fight back."

"hm." The pink and black clad female studied her nails unimpressed. "Whatever. Just as long as I get to squash Netto like a bug."

"That's what I like to hear. Your cooperation is quite appreciated." Darkblues smirked before linking out. "Your training begins tomorrow around 6:30. Don't be late."

Soon the dimensional area faded and meriu caught her PET in mid air as their crossfusion broke. But unlike before, a malicious grin creased her lips as her red bangs masked her eyes.

**0000000**

(while Netto and Enzan were at the cafeteria)

"So what do you do, exactly?" Sarena asked, seemingly interested.

"I'm the commander of the fifth division in the Shaaro army." He sighed, "but lately it seems like I've been degraded to training recruits. They're so…so…" Laika huffed, trying to find a word that expressed his frustration.

"Stupid?" she finished, chuckling.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, "Exactly!" he gave her a thoughtful look, seeming to ask how she was able to fill in the blank so easily.

"My father was in the army. He'd come home and complain about the recruits every night." She changed her voice to sound like an old man, "'those recruits are so stupid! You practically have to teach them left from right!'" She laughed, "I can still hear him saying the words."

Laika let a little concern shine through his stoic expression. "How did your father die?"

Sarena bit her lip, "I'd…really, I'd rather not talk about it. It's kind of a painful memory for me. Kind of worse, that I lost both my parents the same way."

"Heart attack?" Laika asked, remembering Enzan telling him how their mother had gone.

"yeah…Something like that." She mumbled. "So! About those recruits?" she laughed in a strained manner, trying to change the subject.

"hm." He simply nodded.

"what?" Sarena noticed his strange expression and decided to address it

"I just get this sense that I've met you before," Laika looked at her suspiciously, "not too long ago."

"Improbable. Impossible." She waved her hand like she was waving away his assumption, "Last time I was on a military base, I was six. I've been going to school in electown since my parents died, and now I've just started college. There are a lot of black haired girls my age, you know."

"Perhaps." Laika still didn't let go of his suspecting eye.

"So I wonder why…" Sarena started, then realized her conclusion. She had to stifle minor giggles as she continued her sentence, "I wonder why Enzan decided to drag Netto along with him."

At this, the aqua haired man seemed to lighten up a bit, "Netto always gets on his nerves, but we all see that he's kind of grown on Enzan. Makes sense he was the first one of us to find out he was actually alive."

"Makes perfect sense." She mused aloud then turned her attention toward Laika once again. "So behind that frown is there a happy, smiley person?"

_Is she really related to Enzan?! _His thoughts seemed to be knocked over by the female's bluntness. His response, though, consisted of a stiff, "hmph."

"Yeah, thought so. You're so like Enzan." She changed her tone to sound more masculine, "emotions are pointless! Feelings are meaningless." Sarena stuck out her tongue and let her voice return to normal, "blah blah blah. What's with you 'net saviors?'. Y'know, Netto-san's got it right. We're humans, we're allowed to feel, we're allowed to bleed. Ya' don't have to keep it all inside to save the world. It's okay to be human, it's not a crime." Her little pep talk, though sounding hypocritical, served two purposes: one, to make the guy lighten up a bit and two, to make herself feel better about her recent incident.

Laika gave her the most blank stare that could have challenged a blank piece of paper and won. "Emotions are liabilities," he finally responded.

"So?" she scoffed, "living is a liability. Heck, just breathing is a liability! You know how many colds get passed around through the air? So does that mean you just stop breathing? No, 'cause then you'd die, and that would really defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?"

Finally, the stoic man let out a chuckle. "I suppose so."

Sarena smiled. "You laughed! And would you look at that, you're not dead! See? It's okay to smile, to show a little emotional expression." She shrugged, "I know, in the military, and in training, you show no emotion. But this is a hospital! The epitome of empathy! You're not on duty, so lighten up!"

"I…guess…"

"What is there to guess? Just do it!"

**0000000**

Arisa: the omigawd, I've been ignoring this for so loooooong! I hate history. HATE IT. Every weekend, reading a chapter, taking notes, doing notecards. BLEGH.

Icy: that's what you get for taking a class that gives you college credit

Arisa: -whines- but its sooooo haaaard!

Icy: -sighs- I can tell you're bluffing. You're so like Netto- you whine so much, you seem lazy, but you've got a lot of smart and talent under your mask.

Arisa: yeah, mostly. Well, I think I'll get started with chapter 13!

Icy: x.x at 12:13 in the morning?

Arisa: yup! I'm totally pumped!

Icy: Did you happen to forget your sadness with the battle network 6 ending?

Arisa:…-sniffle-….-big sniffle-…-SOB- IT'S OVERRRRRRRR! WAAAAAH!

Icy: -sigh- well, she's a little busy. So **Read and Review**folks. Tis all!


	13. Chapter 13: Loving Liabilities

**Chapter 13: **Loving Liabilities.

**0000000**

"Hey, we brought your food. Don't know why it was _we_. But anyways!" Netto announced as Enzan followed him, carrying her food.

"Wow, it actually looks good." Sarena chuckled amazed. "This is from the cafeteria right?"

"Yeah." Enzan responded, bringing the tray over to her.

Laika stood up from where he had been sitting. He thought it only appropriate that the brother should get the seat closest to her.

Enzan looked at him with an unreadable expression, mirroring his innermost thoughts. _I want her to be happy…but would she be happy with him? Would he treat her right? _ A wave of mother-lion instinct washed over Enzan as he sat down. Netto and Laika remained standing as they all exchanged glances.

"I feel awkward with you all just standing around me like statues. Sit sit!" she laughed, causing them to take seats in chairs further away from the bed, but close enough. "I feel pretty honored to be surrounded by three netsaviors." She lifted her hand to brush away the hair in her face, revealing a long scar on the back of her arm.

Laika stood up in declaration. "I knew it. It was you!"

"What are you talking about?" Netto asked stupidly.

"That scar, on your arm. You were after the seventh division leader, because _supposedly _ he was hiding Manuke Kiro, the owner of Manuke Co. After the failed attempt to capture our leader, you called for a retreat and scattered out of there. As we chased after you, I saw as you, personally, didn't quite make it over the barbed wire and I saw your arm bleed in that exact spt." He glared, "I know it. _You're_ their leader, one of _vengeance!"_

"Laika, calm down. She's not involved in any net terrorism. I saw her when she got that cut when we _attempted _ to roller blade." Enzan stated with a grin. "You really think she could head a terrorist organization?"

Sarena retained an expressionless look through the whole conversation.

"Honestly, if she were the head of a terrorist organization, don't you think I would know about it?" Enzan added.

"I think you would try to hide it. Who else could get into the Ijuuin residence and turn off the security system with such ease? Why would a group that has explosive power carry out an attack on Shuuseki? It only makes sense."

"Actually, I hate to admit it, but you're not making _any_ sense, Laika!" Netto spoke up.

"Oh, it makes perfect sense. It also makes sense why she was able to get us on the guest list for IPC's banquet."

"I had most the passwords, and Sarena was able to handle the basic hacking operations." Enzan defended, "Why are you acting so paranoid?"

"Because I knew from the moment I saw her face, I knew she was the one commander who had successfully taken out Shaaro's 7th division on their second attempt with ease matched by none other."

"You know nothing!" Enzan stood up furiously.

"It's okay, Enzan." She spoke quietly, calmly. Her bangs masked her eyes coyly, "You're smart, Laika-san. Unlike those _stupid _ recruits."

Enzan's eyes widened in shock. _What the hell are you doing?!_

"But I think you've ceased to remember that Manuke-san also was responsible for the brutal death and molestation of two children and beating and rape of their mother, Keimiako." She chuckled, her hair still hiding her solemn eyes, "Aristocrats think they can run to their little forts, and hide all the wrong they've done. Same thing happened to my parents, Enzan's mother." She lifted her face to reveal her determined eyes full of passionate hatred, "And guess which one of those damned aristocrats took her life?"

Laika was silent, sensing all eyes on him, and knowing Sarena had more to say.

"I went to the police, but they thought I was just an orphan looking for attention, seeing as when they went back to my house, the bodies were gone and the mess had been cleaned up." She shook her head, her black hair bobbing loosely. "Police, military, they're all the same. Naïve. I doubt you had any idea _why_ Vengeance went after Manuke."

Enzan stared at Laika, who looked at him, then Sarena. "I refuse to cooperate with a terrorist organization." He replied sternly.

"Who are the real terrorists, Laika?" Enzan faced him. "Us, or the ones you protect? The ones that go about their dirty deeds, and have the sick power to sweep it under the rug, while they continue their disgusting tricks. Are we really terrorists for serving justice?"

"So you're in this too?" Laika snapped his head toward Enzan, his light sea-foam colored hair shaking in doing while his vibrant turquoise eyes locked a condescending gaze upon his former partner.

"You know they're right." Netto spoke up, "Someone has to serve justice against these people, and it may or may not end pretty, but hopefully people will see that they're only trying to do what's right."

Laika now looked nervously at the people surrounding him. Even though there were only three, to him it felt like three hundred.

Sarena could see Laika's thoughts being transformed, "So are you with us or not?"

_There's no way I can be forgiven if anyone finds out about this. _ He sighed. _But I helped out a criminal, and they're right; someone has to serve justice. _ Finally, he nodded "I'm with you."

Netto let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god."

Enzan relaxed his shoulders and sat back down. "Now that we've gotten acquainted with our real identities, I suppose we should try to solve our little problem." He turned his gaze to Sarena, "There's no way the attack is going to be carried out in one day with you down. Also, I'm starting to think Shuuseki has something to do with Blues' disappearance, so he may be valuable for information."

"We should wait another week. And I think I've got a plan to target shuuseki by himself and find out more about blues."

Netto let out a yawn. It was already approaching night time on the day after the banquet incident.

"Netto-kun, you should start to go home. You have finals tomorrow!" The blue navi urged from within the PET.

"I suppose so…" Netto sighed. "Laika, are you really on our side?"

"If I'm fighting for what's right, then yes." He nodded, "I am." The two other net saviors knew this look of pure sincerity. It was one of his traits that the two of them knew very well: If Laika said he'd do something, then he'd do it.

"Alright, well I've got to get going," Netto stood up and headed for the door, "I'm glad you're feeling better, Sarena, and I'm glad all the secrets are gone."

_Not all of them, Netto. _ Enzan thought to himself. _Not yet… _ He glanced over at the female, who gave him a knowing nod of approval.

"Hey, Netto, wait up. I need to talk to you about something."

Netto nodded, and the two walked out of small hospital room. Enzan waited until they had exited the hospital and the frigid December air whipped harshly against their faces to kindle a conversation.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Netto asked, slightly shivering.

They began to proceed toward his home in an alternate route on a secluded street. It resembled more of an alley, as the brick walls of homes lined one side of the path, and the backs of buildings faced the other.

"what a weekend, eh?" Netto asked, smiling as he recalled the recent turn of events. "I find out you're alive, Sarena survives a death trip, and now we've got Laika on our side." he took a deep breath of a the cool air and exhaled in contentment. "Things are getting better."

Enzan smiled. Netto really hadn't changed much, at least not on the inside. His heart was still bigger than ever, and his density still quite profound. His optimism continued to radiate with a contagious glow, causing Enzan to feel a bit cheery himself.

He didn't want to break it to Netto that it was a small scale of good events in comparison to the number of bad ones. But one thing the younger had taught him was to never give up hope.

_(five years past in the final battle between Rockman and Forte)_

Rockman concluded his little speech to Forte, about fighting for hope and not hate. Although badly torn and beaten, the little blue navi charged mercilessly into battle, with Blues left to follow quickly.

"Whoa, hold on! Wait for me!" Blues called out, charging after and soon alongside Rockman.

"Blues! Rockman's got it down! No matter what the enemy throws at you, NEVER give up!" Enzan instructed his navi with a more encouraging voice he had ever used.

"Yes, Enzan-sama! I hear you!" Blues voiced back, as doing so registered his net ops words into his own heart even deeper.

_Heh…go figure…ME saying such a thing…_ Enzan managed to crack a smile _And it's all your fault, Netto…_

Soon both navi's found Forte's dragon of darkness looming over them hauntingly. Rockman looked up in astonishment at the monster, while Blues looked away.

"You ready for this?" the smaller asked, his eyes wide in anticipation

"I'm always ready." the worry in Blues' voice was vastly eclipsed by a string of confidence.

Enzan looked at Netto with a smirk, and Netto reciprocated it, but the knowing smiles weren't out of competition as it had been so many times before; their smirks shone with mutual respect. They didn't need to say anything, for their confident glances spoke the words for them.

_Between us…we'll accomplish something! Whatever it is!_

(end flashback)

"Hey…you there?" Netto looked at Enzan confused, as the older seemed to walk along, staring straight ahead, unresponsive.

"Yeah…" he replied monotonously. "Just thinking."

"What about?"

"The past." He couldn't help but let a small smile creep it's way up.

"Oh yeah? What about it?" Netto prodded curiously.

"Remember in the battle with Forte, when Rockman acquired Blues-soul?" Enzan reminded the other of the event, and not another word needed utterance.

"Yeah." Netto responded quietly, but a smile had curved his mouth as well, along with the faint tinge of pink that had surfaced on his cheeks. "I remember." In truth, how could he forget?

The older looked over at the brunette who was looking down to hide his blush. Unfortunately, they were walking in the direction of the opulent full moon, and thus made his blush more obvious. Not only did it accentuate his feelings, but the milky light of the moon outlined the beautiful masculine features that made him more radiant than any of heavens angels (or so thought Enzan.)

Enzan took a deep breath, knowing it was the only time, the perfect time to say what needed to be said. But the lump in his throat caused every word he tried to utter to only come out as mere breaths into the air.

"Hey…" Enzan paused, swallowing hard, trying to get rid of whatever was blocking everything he was trying to say.

_Why is this so hard!? I know he feels the same way for me, so why am I freaking out?_

"Netto…I…"

"Yeah?" the slightly younger asked a little confused. Why was Enzan looking down? Why was he hesitating?

In an attempt to speak, Enzan just looked down, kicking the pebbles beneath him. He hadn't realized it, but the movements of his feet brought him closer to the other. When he looked up, he noticed just how close he had come to the brunette, who hadn't moved an inch.

"I…I know…" his stutters made no sense to the thick headed teen before him. He had thought of how proclaiming his love to Netto might have turned out; he imagined some big speech to die for, but at this point, that just wasn't going to happen, and words just couldn't express his feelings.

"What? You know what?" Netto asked a little impatiently. "What are you trying to say?"

Enzan lifted his head slowly, hesitatingly. As his lips inched closer, finally, the brunette understood, and Enzan felt a little better that he wasn't alone in this. Their lips only brushed against each other, as if both were contemplating what they were getting into. Finally, Enzan pressed his lips against Netto's, quickly, subtly, but enough to get the message across. He pulled away, staring at the ground, for fear of the look on Netto's face might show any indication of disappointment or anger.

"Enzan…" Netto whispered quietly, trying to get the other to look back at him.

The black haired teen tried to raise his head, but embarrassment weighed down so heavily upon him, that he could only succeed in looking off to the side.

"Enzan, look at me." Netto gently lifted his chin, leveling their eyes into a transfixed gaze. The older found a look of love and compassion staring right into his soul.

Still holding ever so lightly on his chin, Netto leaned forward while bringing Enzan's face closer. He easily pressed his lips against the older's, and moved his hand to run through the blackness of his hair.

After the initial shock of having his feelings returned, Enzan began to relax, and wrapped his arms around Netto, pulling him slightly closer. They stayed like that for a while, until Netto broke the kiss just as quickly as he began it. He rested his head in the crook of Enzan's neck, closing his eyes in contentment. The older smiled, feeling happy just to hold his new lover in his arms.

"See? Things are getting better." Netto whispered as he took in the simple beauty of the moment.

At this point, Enzan's smile only continued to grow. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath and exhaled with contentment. Perhaps he was right, perhaps things were going to get better. At least if they didn't, Netto would give him hope. In fact, Enzan knew, that if everything were tumbling down, just the sight of the brunette's smile would lift his spirits.

"Thank you." Enzan whispered into his new lover's ear.

**0000000**

_THUMP….THUMP…THUMP THUMP_

"Hyah!"

Red boxing gloves began to punch a matching red punching bag furiously. Slender yet determined arms threw determination and pain into every punch. Occasionally a leg would come up to deliver even more anger to the poor, beaten foam dummy.

"Yah! Hu-YAH!"

THUMP THUMP…THUMP 

_(Two years ago…)_

"Meriu!"

The red head spun around to the beckoning, and smiled to see her eternal brown-haired crush skating toward her as fast as he could to catch up.

"Um…y'know, I accidentally fell asleep in Kazukei-Sensei's class." He said upon reaching her and stopping his skates.

Meriu set a scowl on her face. "Yeah, I know. I was the one who woke you up."

"Oh! You were? Thanks." He laughed sheepishly, placing his hands behind his head. "I was wondering if you could help me out and help me on my homework."

Meriu sighed. She hated the fact that he always and only came to her for homework help, but she also delighted in the time that they got to spend alone together. "Yeah, sure!" Lately, she hoped with all the help she gave him that she could get him to ask her upcoming spring dance.

"Yes!" He embraced her tightly, picking her off the ground slightly and spinning her around. "Thank you!"

The redhead laughed, secretly ecstatic with his expression of joy. "No problem!" Though she couldn't hold back the blush on her face, Netto and his denseness didn't seem to notice.

He began to skate away, waving to her. "See you around 5:00 at my place!"

"Hai!" she beamed happily, waving back. "See you then!"

_(End Flashback)_

"Hate." She muttered through fast breaths as she punched the bag harder. "I…Hate." Her brown eyes focused as she used all her dark emotions to rip it apart. When the hanging contraption finally broke, she stepped back, breathing heavily. A smirk accompanied by a devious stare encompassed her normal innocent and caring expression, and any traces of a previous Meriu had been diminished.

Hurt, Pain. It's all I feel from unmet expectations and this lie he's led me to believe. It puddles up resentment into an ocean of Hate. I'm going to become stronger...I am stronger. And I will kill him.

**0000000**

Violet eyes closed in contentment as their corresponding body finished the last of the macaroni in the dish.

"So was your father really in the army then?"

Sarena shook her head. "No, but I knew from experience exactly what you were going to say." she grinned. "Although, sometimes you get a really experienced recruit."

"You must be talking about Enzan."

"I would be lying if I said I weren't." she paused. "What was he like when you first met him?"

Laika almost chuckled, but not quite. "Pretty much the same, though I've never seen him as relaxed as he's been lately."

"You call that relaxed? He can be more stiff than a rock sometimes! He can be so moody too."

"Well that's new."

"What do you mean?"

"Netto was always the moody one. Enzan and I usually kept emotions at a minimal. We understood the liability they are."

Sarena fell silent. Her gaze averted to the floor as she knew first hand what he was talking about. At last, she lifted her eyes to ask him a question. "Since we're being honest…have you ever fallen in love?"

Laika was definitely taken aback by the question, but her serious and almost helpless expression helped calm him. "Well…Yes. Once. I knew before feelings were liabilities, but after that, I had experienced it as well."

"Yeah…me too." She spoke quietly. "I guess they weren't kidding about the falling in love part. Sometimes you can fall pretty hard."

Laika simply stared at the solemn black haired female. Her bitter-sweet violet eyes seemed to become a more vibrant purple as her sadness increased, giving her a certain unidentifiable beauty. He couldn't deny that, to him, she was quite attractive; he couldn't deny that he, himself, was attracted to her. And it seemed that her knowledge and experience on the battle field served to only kindle the growing flame.

"Question is, what can you do when no matter how hard you've fallen, you just want to keep falling?" she shook her head as if she were now talking with herself, not even noting his presence.

"I mean, was I so insane for having loved him?" she sighed, leaning her head back toward the ceiling and closing her eyes . "God, sorry, I'm loosing my miiiind!" she rested her eyes a minute, letting herself calm. She heard the shuffling of feet, but it didn't seem to register.

"Here I-" Her eyes widened in shock as brought her gaze back towards him, only to find lips being pressed softly against hers. She remained unresponsive a moment, but as he pulled away slowly, she felt herself go after his lips once again. Incapable of refusing her request, he allowed her to kiss him, while reciprocating it generously.

Even as he had realized she was the leader of vengeance, he still felt himself "falling" for her. When he first saw her, he felt himself falling; when her eyes came close to tears, he felt himself falling; As he sat on the edge of her bed and kissed her, he felt himself falling. He heard her earlier question replay in his mind: What can you do when no matter how hard you've fallen, you just want to keep falling?

She pulled away slightly, her breath nearly taken away. Still inches from his face, she felt the need to clear up a few questions. "Aren't emotions liabilities?"

Locking eyes, he responded simply, "Isn't breathing a liability?"

She looked down and pulled away further, pressing her lips together. "I suppose…"

Laika sat up, and gazed at the fair blush tracing her cheeks. He was mentally kicking himself for moving so fast and wondered what on earth compelled him to act so brash.

"Yeah!" she looked up suddenly and smiled. "You're right." she smiled warmly and calmly, "We've got to take risks once in a while. I just…I want you to remember that. I don't want you to think your feelings have let you down, but right now…I'm just not ready." She placed her hand on top of his, "Okay?"

Laika nodded, trying to look hardly phased. But she could tell by his solemn expression that he was a little disappointed.

"Just give me some time. I just fell pretty hard, and I'm still in pain." She laughed. "Literally."

"How is your neck feeling?"

"Well truthfully, I think the pain medication is working pretty well. I can't feel it much at all!" she sighed. "I hope I don't have to be here much longer. Hospitals are boring. Not to mention I've got a lot of things to deal with at HQ. Enzan told me that my partner nearly killed him when Enzan told him what happened. And all this crap with Rockman and Blues, and Shuuseki. We still don't know if he's in or out of the whole navi situation."

"Speaking of which, how come you don't have a navi?"

"Well, I grew up without parents. I never had the money to afford my own. Once I did, I was so used to depending on myself that I figured I'd never adjust to relying on anything else. Besides, I'm the head of the Brute Force unit of Vengeance. My partner's the head of Technology. His men are in charge of all the computer and navi operations."

"Have you ever wanted one?"

"Eh, certain times." She laughed. "Well, I really could've used one when Dark Blues was about to kill me. If Enzan hadn't been trapped inside, I probably would've shot him."

"You can't really use brute force against a darkloid. You have to out-wit them."

She looked at him with a skeptical expression. "And just how do you do that when every door is locked and you've got no way to protect yourself?"

"The hotel had multiple hallways, right?"

"Right…"

"You could've used an echo to confuse him. Or if he were coming after you, and you had no place to go, let him charge at you, and trip him. Then use that opportunity to get away. There are many ways to out-smart a dark loid. You've just got use your brain."

She raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Are you implying that I don't?"

"I'm implying that you failed to notice the possibilities, and your inexperience with a navi, not to mention one that's possessed a family member caused you to lose your sensibility."

She now had a scowl on her face. "I'll have you know, I do use my brain, even in difficult situations. And in fact, I did try to out-wit him. I figured, that if I couldn't shoot him, I could destroy his weapon. But…I didn't know that cyber swords reflect bullets. But nevertheless, I did use my brain, so don't go calling me stupid until you know all the facts."

"I'm not saying you're stupid, I'm saying you're simply inexperienced."

"Coming from the person who said that my team, and I quote 'took out the Shaaro 7th division with ease matched by none other.'"

"I never said you weren't skilled against humans. But darkloids are a completely different story all together. You've got to figure, they only recruited three of us to go up against them. " Laika responded calmly, "I'm not saying that you're not skilled in combat. I think if you had the proper training, you could defend yourself against them."

The temper he had begun to create in her, simmered. "Yeah, I guess. I just don't like being rated useless, you know?"

"I know."

They continued to talk for a while until she challenged him to tic-tac-toe. By the time they had gone through the complimentary hospital pad of paper, using fronts and backs, neither one of them had kept track of the score…or the time.

**0000000**

Arisa: XD I made a Freudian slip while typing the last part. Where Laika says "I'm not saying you're not skilled in combat," I accidentally typed com**bed**. XD "I'm not saying you're not skilled in combed." Whooo…Well! He would know! XP

Icy: Personally, I'm disappointed with this chapter. Laika seems to be too out of character. I don't think we encompassed Meriu's anger well enough either.

Arisa: I think it came out well, though I agree with you on Laika's OOC-ness. I never really liked him until he came into the story. So other than the game and the half an episode that I even bothered to watch with him in it, I really haven't studied his personality as much as the others. I tried to make him something like Enzan, seeing as I've seen many people equate them.

Icy: but kissing Sarena on the first day he met her?! That's a little too far-fetched, you think?

Arisa: I do feel like that was a little risky, but sometimes you take a risk and you just gotta hope for the best. Who knows, it might work out later! And besides, it's up to the readers to let us know.

Icy: You have a point. So, for all you readers, REVIEW! We'll discontinue this story if you don't. Honestly, 12 chapters and four reviews? We don't just write 'cause we like to, we write because we want to improve. And we can't do that if no one lets us know how we're doing!

Arisa: So yeah, we'd really like you to let us know how we're doing. That's all folks!


	14. Chapter 14: Untitled

**Chapter 14: **

**0000000**

Students scuffled into class, eyes reddened and tired from late night studying but senses unwillingly alert for the impeding mid-terms. Each let out a little sigh of relief though, as it was the last exam until winter break.

Assigned seats were not mandatory, but somehow voluntary. As people arranged into their little cliques, finding a way to blend with the rest of the class, everyone knew their place. And everyone knew the seat next to the brown haired Hikari Netto was reserved for the redheaded Sakurai Meiru.

As he tapped his fingers against the desk, impatient for the class to begin—which meant the sooner it would end—, he was also unnerved by the fact that he had arrived to class earlier than Meiru…something that _never_ happened. In fact, he counted, only twenty seconds remained before the late bell rang. Everyone knew that Meiru was never late, and even if she were on her death bed, she would find a way to come to class rather than miss an important scholastic event.

But with ten seconds left on the clock, everyone watched as a black-clad redhead entered class, being the last to enter.

BRIIIIIIIIIIING 

"Alright everyone, this is your last final, but make it your best!" The teacher announced before uploading the tests onto each student's computers. The exams were all different, some having different questions, and all the questions in random orders to eliminate any chance of cheating. Also, all navi's were logged in, accounted for, and held in a separate area to keep them from helping their net-ops.

Netto was too distracted by Meiru's sudden and drastic change of apparel to notice the teacher calling to him.

"Netto!"

"Huh?" the brunette snapped out of his gaze to answer.

"Jack in Rockman."

"Uh, hai! Gomenesai!" he bowed his head slightly, then plugged the blue navi into the net to be taken.

As the tests began, he found himself distracted and plagued with questions once again.

catching his eyes looking her way, she whispered with a snap, "What do you want?"

"Uh…um. Good Luck." He stumbled on words for an excuse.

"Heh, yeah." she cracked a less than friendly smile, "Good Luck. You'll need it." Then rolled her eyes and began to focus on the test.

Within the next hour or so, Netto found it within himself to tuck questions about Meiru in the back of his mind and instead focus on the test before him. For having not studied, Netto found the test to be pretty easy; but then again, it was computer programming—the one subject in school he had actually taken an interest to.

But even as he excelled in the subject, he was still a slow test taker, and the bell had rung before he finished. The teacher granted him ten minutes after class to finish, but it had meant Meiru had already started walking home.

Kuso…oh well. I'll go over later. I promised Enzan I'd meet him at the hospital later. Maybe Rockman talked to roll, so he might know what's going on with Meiru. She always tells him when something's wrong with her.

After picking up his backpack, thanking the teacher for time, and wishing him a good winter break, Netto began to traverse toward the hospital.

"Na, Rockman. Did you talk to Roll today?" Netto asked, summoning the blue navi to take place on his shoulder.

"I was going to ask you if you had talked to Meiru-chan. Roll seemed kind of…depressed. I tried to ask her what was wrong, but she'd just growl and walk away. She dispersed herself in a book, so I decided not to bother her. Why? Was Meiru-chan acting weird too?"

"Weird is only half of it. She was dressed in all black, and when I looked at her, she was like 'what do you want?'" Netto explained, using the voice Meiru had earlier.

"Do you think we did something?"

"Usually that's the case, but once again, I'm lost for answers." Netto sighed, turning a corner. "But, I mean, to go all out and turn gothic…I know I'm dense, but so does she, and I know she's learned to take it with a grain of sand."

"Grain of salt." Rockman corrected, " And maybe it's been frustration that's been harbored up. Maybe something happened with her parents, and its nothing to do with you at all."

"Could be, but somehow, I'm not convinced."

"Did you say anything to her that would upset her?"

"No, I haven't seen…her…oh damn. I did."

"Yeah?"

"Crap. Well, I mean, she was bugging me about how I've been acting differently. I knew I couldn't tell her how I feel about Enzan, so I told her to just back off. I guess I could've said it nicer…"

Rockman sighed and rolled his eyes. "That would probably be a GOOD guess. Do you think she found out about you two?"

"She doesn't even know it's him."

"Actually… I do."

**0000000**

Briiiiiing…..Briiiiiing….

"Hello?"

"Kotryo! Konichiwa! It's me! Yuki!"

The older man eased a little, thanking the heavens that it wasn't bad news from Enzan or Sarena. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"Oh, just great! Floral Beauty is just booming with customers! Me, Kai, and Niishi are keeping busy as can be, but thank goodness we're all in the respectable business now."

"Yeah, I was worried about you before."

"Well no need to worry now! So, how are _you_doing?"

"Keeping busy. You know the drill."

"Of course, of course. I won't ask on the phone. Everyone still alive?"

"Barely." He sighed

Yuki seemed to pick up on the extensive worry in his voice. "Don't tell me.…"

"You won't believe me when I tell you what happened."

"What?! what?! oh god! Is she alright?!"

"She's fine now. But she died-"

"She's dead!?"

"No…calm down Yuki. Let me finish!" There was silence on the other line, allowing for the man to continue. "She did die, but she came back to life. Miraculous, I know. I can hardly believe it myself."

"How?!"

"Here, meet me at the elec- city hospital. We can both see her, and I'll explain more there."

"I'll be there!"

**0000000**

"Meiru-chan…what's going on?" A very confused Netto looked worriedly at his former child-hood friend.

"You don't even see it, do you?" she studied her nails, pretending to be disinterested.

Netto sighed. "Once again, I really don't know what you're talking about. If you mean what I said to you at the hospital, I'm sorry for being so rude."

She looked over to see winter-worn rose bush, and immediately bent down to pick up the withered rose petals. "All these years, Netto, I followed you around like a love-sick puppy. Constantly I watched out to make sure you were okay, I tried to cheer you up, cheer you on, be your number one fan, and only to be told that I wouldn't understand!?" She stood up with the crisp petals, clutching them and breaking them down in her palm, "You never cared about me, you never could see when I was hurting, and you never could see when I was pouring my heart out, trying to get you to see me. All you cared about was you and being numero uno. Big time net battler, net savior. Saving the world from eternal deletion and getting all the attention. Oh excuse me, _Enzan's _attention." She scoffed, opening her palm and letting the wind pick up the crushed remnants of what was once a beautiful flower. "But it's not going to go down like that this time."

"What do you mean!? And Meiru-chan, I do care about you! Maybe I'm not in love with you, but I _never_ meant to hurt you! And what about all the times I saved you? You think I did that for me? You think I'd put my life at stake for you just because I wanted Enzan's attention? Think about it!"

Netto thought he almost saw a flicker of hopelessness in her eyes, but it was soon doused by the constant storm of hatred. "No, you did that because you wanted to look like the hero, while in turn I looked weak. But that's not going to happen again. Next time, _you'll_ be the one in need of a savior." She smirked and began to walk away, her black high-heeled boots clonking against sidewalk. As she took a few steps, she turned and looked behind her to add, "So you better watch your back."

Netto stood there and sighed. He knew there was no rational talking to her, but more than that, he knew something deeper than resentment was the source of her actions. Figuring out what and how to do deal with it, however, would take time and thought.

Why does this feel like just the beginning? 

"Netto-kun, why didn't you stop her?"

"There's no getting through to her. She's upset, but I have a feeling there's more to it than that." Netto began to walk toward the hospital in the opposite direction Meiru had gone. "Its almost like it wasn't even her standing there. Like invasion of the body snatchers or something."

"That makes four."

"Four what?"

"That have had our souls taken from us. Maybe they got to her too."

"You mean Regal?"

"It would explain all the black if she were on the side of evil."

"But Meiru wouldn't go to the dark side, even if I had hurt her worse! She's not like that!" Netto exclaimed

"Neither would I. Maybe she was like me and blues and didn't have a choice. Think about it; did you hear what she said? She just gave you a death threat. That's obviously not the Meiru-chan we know." Rockman frowned. "They're pitting us against each other, realizing that the best way to break apart power is to break it from within."

"But how do you create a dark human?"

"Dark Crossfusion?"

"Enzan did that twice, and it didn't affect him."

"Just a theory." Rockman shrugged. "It seems that in the digital world, many people can do the same thing and all get different results."

"Yeah…What worries is me is that, what if we have to fight them?"

Rockman frowned, remaining silent. _God I hope not…not that again._

**0000000**

A knock on the door startled Sarena as she absent mindedly drew on a new pad of paper. She wasn't an artist, but it was all she had to do. Enzan had left to wait for Netto and she had slept well enough during the night that nodding off was not an option.

"Kotyro!" She smiled widely seeing him enter, but when he moved his big body out of the way to let another small figure in, her smile grew even bigger. "Yuki!"

"Sarena!" The short, brown haired female ran over to the bed to give her friend a hug as best she could.

"Oh my god, how are you?! This is quite a pleasant surprise!"

"Well, I'm doing better than you, by the looks of it. Kotryo told me what happened. At least now I can ease my worrying a little, knowing that you're practically indestructible!" she shook her head. "Things have been crazy for you, haven't they?"

"Crazy is just the half of it. And you were wrong about the dress!"

Yuki tilted her head to the side "What dress?" she thought a moment as Sarena simply stared at her. "OH! You mean the one I made you buy?"

"Yep. He didn't ask me to marry him."

Kotyro nearly choked. "What?!"

Sarena blushed, having forgotten that he had been left out on a small minor detail. "Umm…uhhh…nothing."

"I sense I'm missing something." Yuki raised an eyebrow.

**0000000**

"Hey!" Netto smiled, seeing Enzan waiting for him out in front of the hospital.

"Hey." The older replied, smiling warmly at the other as he approached.

Their greeting was supposed to be accompanied by a small kiss, but gradually it had found itself longer than intended. Passing people averted their gaze, except for one.

A pair of blue eyes widened then shut tightly, not wanting to see the sight any longer. "Get a room! Please!"

Both pulled away quickly, recognizing the voice without a doubt.

"Laika!" Netto announced surprised. "What're you doing here?"

"I told Sarena I'd stop by, but now I think burning my eyes out has become my top priority."

Enzan, completely mortified with embarrassment, could not hide the ever growing blush and could only find it in himself to clear his throat. "Gomen." He mumbled quietly.

Noticing how awkward the conversation had become, Laika felt the need to clear up a question then move on. "So you two are…?"

"Yeah. Pretty much." Netto replied, knowing Enzan was unable of speaking at this time.

Laika looked off to the side, seeming to be processing this information, and rebooting his system; this time remembering to leave out judgement.exe for just the two of them. "Well, I'll be going inside now. Are you two coming or leaving?"

"I just arrived. Enzan was waiting for me."

Laika grinned. "I can see that." This only served to deepen the already tomato-red blush on Enzan's face.

"Shall we be going then?" Enzan finally manage to mutter, though coming out in small squeaks.

"Lets." Netto grinned happily. Enzan wondered how on earth his lover could withstand the embarrassment. Sure, he didn't care about random people, but Laika was a person he knew and respected. His embarrassment seemed to settle as the time passed and Netto told all about his encounter with Meiru.

"Rock thinks it's dark crossfusion, but could that really taint a human?"

"Not if it's infected the Navi individually. Rock's on the right track." The older teen explained, "It would have to be a chip that would infect them both. And for that to happen, they'd have to be crossfused."

"Or crossfusing." Laika added. "Perhaps it was a dark synchro chip."

"I've heard about those. I thought they were just a legend when Nebula was rampant. I mean, we never came across any, right?"

"Yes, but perhaps it was in the planning stage. My only concern is why they haven't attacked the public yet." Laika frowned. "The longer the calm, the greater the storm."

"It's always the same thing; they're always after either Rock or Blues to get us out of the way so they can take over the world. I'm starting to think the N1 wasn't such a good idea after all." Netto sighed.

"That's an understatement." Enzan scoffed. "It pretty much our navis moving targets for any power-hungry psychopath."

"I'm just wondering what this new nebula is up to this time." Netto asked thoughtfully.

"Once Sarena gets out of here, we're going to get to the bottom of this."

The three made their way up to the hospital room. Enzan opened the door to find Kotryo staring intently at him, a random girl looking confused, and Sarena blushing like mad.

"I'm back?" Enzan announced a little confused, allowing the others to enter.

"Laika!" Sarena acted pleased to see him, desperately trying to change the subject. "Uh, well, I suppose I should introduce you all. Yuki, this is Enzan-kun, my half-brother, Netto-san, his bo- I mean _friend_ who saved me, and Laika-san his other friend who helped Netto get his navi back, in which I would be dead if he hadn't. You guys, this is my friend Yuki, who inspired me to take action and I would trust with my life." Sarena smiled.

"Awww!" Yuki smiled, then turned to the two 'friends'. "Thank you for keeping her alive. It's a pleasure to meet you." she paused and looked at Enzan, "and it's quite a pleasure to meet _you _" She winked, causing Sarena to laugh.

"Easy girl, he's taken."

"What?!" Kotyro choked again.

Sarena sighed. "Oh, guys, this is Kotyro, the head of the Technology unit, and also acts like an over protective father." She cast a glare to older man.

"Taken by who!?" Kotyro crossed his arms.

Laika rested his head in his palm and the corresponding elbow in his other hand, realizing this was not going to go over easily.

Sarena looked at Enzan, then Netto, then Kotyro. "Not me, and I know that's what you're asking."

Yuki looked at her surprised. "You just said he was your brother…"Please…I am so lost…

"That makes two of us." Kotyro snorted.

"Don't worry about it. Forget I said anything." Sarena sighed. "So! I feel really special!"

"Yeah, well, when Kotyro told me what had happened, I could hardly believe it." Yuki looked at Enzan. "So you're the murderer's son?"

"Unfortunately."

She narrowed her gaze. "If you purposely hurt Sarena, I swear to god, I will personally hunt you down and kill you."

"Easy Yuki. He's on our side. His mother is my mother, remember? We're both pretty pissed at the old man."

"Yeah, true." The short-tempered female brunette backed off.

"So how's the flower shop? I saw a little while ago your new ad. Sounds like things are going well!"

"Yup! Me, Niishi and Kai are keeping busy, but it's a good deal. Oh! And Kai met this wonderful guy, he hasn't proposed yet, but she told us that they're thinking about getting married. Isn't that great?!"

"AH! Really? Good for her!" Sarena beamed with happiness. It was the first time any of the others had seen her so happy and relaxed.

"Wait…so getting back to my question earlier, did you wear the dress the night you nearly got killed?"

"Yeah."

"And you said I wasn't right."

"right."

"But wait, didn't you go with him?" Yuki nodded towards Enzan, and Sarena shook her head 'yes'. "Well obviously!" Yuki laughed. "He's your brother!"

Sarena rolled her eyes and laughed as well. "See, so you were wrong!"

"I meant any guy that's not RELATED would ask you to marry him!"

And at this point, yet again, Enzan felt VERY awkward. Laika looked at him, remembering his conversation with Sarena the night before. Being perceptive as usual, he finally pulled together the pieces of the puzzle to see the big picture.

She was in love with him! It all makes sense now! 

"No! nope! You didn't say that! So you were wrong!" she sighed. "And now I have to go find another dress just like it, 'cause the one I got is all torn and ripped. "

"You mean you never got to wear it on a real date?" Yuki asked.

"Like I said. I'm practically in the military. When was I supposed to wear it?"

Yuki shrugged. "I dunno. I always imagined you'd find some cute military guy to go out with anyways."

Sarena quickly looked over at Laika, who blushed and quickly looked away. "Yeah…maybe."

Enzan looked over at Laika and noticed his new-formed blush. He smiled, finding his plans falling into place.

The door opened seconds later with Sarena's doctor inviting herself in.

"My, you're loved!" the woman in a white lab coat laughed. "How're you feeling?"

"Great! My neck is a little sore, but I can move it easily."

"And your side?"

"Again, sore. But 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door' !'" She smiled, quoting Mercutio's last lines from Romeo and Juliet.

Intelligent.

"Hopefully if I ask for you tomorrow, I won't find you a grave man. Or woman in your case." The doctor smiled, replying with her knowledge of the play.

"As long as I don't run into any more darkloids, I should be fine."

"Yes, and that's why I say that you should be fine to leave. Here's the slip for your medication: just some pain relievers. Take one, but if the pain is unbearable, you may take two, as long as you have food in your stomach."

"Arigatou, Hikase." Sarena smiled.

**0000000**

Stretching her legs had never felt better. "I feel like dancing!" she laughed, spinning around as the whole lot of them walked out of the hospital.

"How can you ever feel like dancing again?" Yuki laughed.

Sarena cast her a side glance and chuckled. "You know what I mean. Like dancing in the rain, or swing dancing! Man! I haven't swing danced since I was a little girl." Turned to Enzan "Mama taught me how to swing dance." She said, smiling.

Enzan watched with satisfaction. Either pain medication had been a little too much, or she was just over-all high on life to be out of the hospital and able to move around. He decided on the latter.

"Where should we go first? Man! I just want to go shopping or do something normal." Sarena sighed. "I think it's from catching up with Yuki. See! It's all your fault!" she laughed, walking backwards in front of the group.

"But Sar…" Kotyro started. "The team's behind."

The black haired girl stopped walking and sighed, blowing her bangs of her face. "Yeah, I know."

"Oh relax, Ko." Yuki set her hands on her hips. "She just got out of the hospital. I mean, give her a few days before she has to go back!"

"I don't get hurt that bad that often, Yooks." Sarena raised her eyebrow. "I mean, besides. It was two dinky scratches."

"That killed you." Enzan finished. "Yuki's got a point, Chief. Everyone needs to take a break once in a while."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that, Enzan." Netto spoke up. "You, the person who used to bury himself in paperwork."

"What can I say?" he pointed to Sarena. "She changed me."

"I hope you can still net battle…"

"Oh nobody can change that." The older grinned.

Laika, who remained silent, felt somewhat out of the conversation. Sarena picked up on this quickly, and made it her business to involve him. "What about you Laika? What do you think? Break or work?"

"Don't ask him. He's all work." Netto scoffed. "Worse than Enzan."

Laika glared at him, then shrugged. "I agree with Yuki. Take a day off, but get back to business tomorrow."

"Nani?!" Netto stared bug-eyed at the older. Enzan lightly smacked his arm. "Ow…"

"See! Score says 5 to 1 on taking a day off. Majority rules." She grinned childishly, sticking her tongue out at Kotyro.

"Child." He replied.

"Old man!"

Kotyro crossed his arms. "hmph."

"Alright! Then it's settled! We're all taking a day off."

"All of us?" Enzan looked at her skeptically. "I've got to work on finding Blues, and we can't leave all the responsibility on the blue and green units."

"He's right. I can't leave all the responsibility to the men in my technology unit either."

"They're leaders for a reason, Ko. They can handle it. We're there to supervise." She sighed, "But Enzan, I guess you probably should look for Blues."

"I think I may know someone who could be of assistance in finding him as well." Netto spoke up.

"Alright, so if Ko, Enzan, and Netto aren't going, that leaves me, Yuki and Laika?"

All eyes looked at the blue haired man, who shrugged. "I guess so."

Enzan nodded, but secretly he realized his plan was working flawlessly. He could tell by Laika's actions that he had something for Sarena. Plus, it would give Enzan time spend with Netto without Sarena there to make him feel guilty. Knowing that she has/had feelings for him made him feel like a traitor for being with Netto, even though he knew she didn't intend for him to feel like that.

Suddenly Yuki's phone began to ring. "Hello?… You've got to be kidding me!… Can't we call in one of the other employees?… That's right, she doesn't have a key. I'll be there in fifteen… See ya." Sighing, Yuki hung up her phone. "Reyna, our assistant manager locked herself out. I gotta go open the shop."

"We'll come with you. I'd like to see Kai and Niishi too."

"Actually Kai's on vacation with her little lovey, and Niishi called in sick. You don't have to go, I'll just meet up with you later. Where are we going?"

"Well I was thinking about getting something to eat first and then just walking around town after." Sarena shrugged.

"Where do you want to go for lunch?"

"I loooooove Rimmi's. I haven't gone there in so long!"

"Heh, those were the days." Yuki chuckled. "I'll see you there."

Everyone broke off and went in their separate directions, Kotyro, Enzan, and Netto heading back to head quarters, Yuki to her shop, and Laika and Sarena to the restaurant.

**0000000**

Arisa: I loved writing this chapter, especially the little bit with Meiru in it. The crushed rose symbolism fit perfectly into the context, in my opinion.

Icy: I loved how Kotyro was freaking out when Sarena and Yuki talked about the dress, and then when she said that Enzan was taken. He really looks after her, being only five years older.

Arisa: When Sarena was saying how her wounds felt like scratches, I instantly remembered mercutio's lines from Romeo and Juliet when Tybalt accidentally stabs him.

"Benvolio: What, art thou hurt?

Mercutio: Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch; merry, 'tis enough. Where is my page? Go villain, fetch a surgeon.

Romeo: Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much.

Mercutio: No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve. Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man…"

Icy: Heh, We just watched that yesterday. –sniffle- It's a good chick flick for breaking up.

Arisa:…yeah. We would know, wouldn't we? –shakes head and laughs sheepishly- ah, look at me. Going off on a tangent about my love life again! Heh! Well, I suppose this is where I ask you all to review, but well, everyone knows that nobody actually reviews. Only the really kind and generous people do. OH!

**QUESTION FOR THE READERS: **If you don't have a strong comment to say, but you want to help me out by reviewing (HINT HINT), consider this. What do you think of the Japanese/English usage? Someone I know read this and said I switch back and forth too much, and actually suggested I just take out the Japanese entirely, only leaving the names the way they are. (Example, using thank you instead of Arigatou, and yes instead of Hai.) what do _you _ think? Review and let your thoughts be heard! Your opinion will be VERY appreciated! Thank you!


	15. Chapter 15: Lamb Net

Chapter 15: Lamb Net

**0000000**

"Meiru, what on earth were you thinking?"

The redhead simply chuckled, removing her sunglasses. "Don't worry. I was just instilling a little fear. I didn't even begin to describe the pain they're in for."

"Well don't." was the firm reply

"Aw, don't tell me that I'm more sadistic than you? Isn't it fun to mess around with the prey before killing them?"

"Not if it's going to give our identity away."

"Don't worry. He doesn't have a clue. He's a little too preoccupied with his boyfriend to notice anything, and once he does, it'll be all too late." She snickered, setting one hand on her hip, and waving the other hand in the air, the chains on her gothic arm brace jingling as she did.

"You better damn well hope so." The stern voice replied. "You know what happens to dark humans that fail…especially _your_ kind. You know what I can do."

Meriu was silent, with only the sound of her arms retreating humbly to her side, then responded solemnly, "…yes master."

"Good." the voice seemed to reflect the smirk on the speakers face, "How long until the preparations are complete?"

**0000000**

Enzan stared at the screen as he typed away furiously. "Alright, I got it." He sat back, observing the screen a moment.

Netto slid over to him in his rolling chair, observing the screen as well. "What is that?"

"Tracking device. I had built a program for such an instance as this, but it was on my computer at work. I had to get around the security, get to the trash, gather all the fragments, get them all back here, make sure I had every piece, and then cover up my footsteps. All for one dinky program." Enzan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do you think the vaccine chip will still work?"

"With the technology they have, our vaccine chips are probably vastly outdated. What we need is a sample of the dark power to know how much we need to counteract it."

"I have a theory though." Netto paused, getting Enzan's attention. "We were able to reverse the effects on Rockman with our prototype trap. If the purge program embedded within the trap was enough to bring him back, perhaps we could use a vaccine chip with that program."

Enzan stared at him then smiled, "Now that is why I love you."

Netto grinned and pecked him on the cheek, "Oh I'm sure that's not the only reason." He turned to rub his forehead against the other's in an Eskimo-style kiss, "I know it's not the only reason I love you."

Enzan simply smiled. He was good at saying things when they came on a whim, but as he had noticed, it was hard for him to express what he felt for the other in words. It could have been that he never had that sort of close relationship with any one, or he was simply nervous. But whatever the reason, it was the truth, and he needed to figure out how to get over the stumbling road-block.

"To sci-lab?" Netto asked, pulling away and focusing on the previous topic.

The black haired one sighed. "I really wanted to avoid that place at all costs. You know your father is going to question me about where I've been."

"Just say you've been hanging out with your step sister and Blues' kidnapping must be Vengeance's work as well. I mean, it would make sense, seeing vengeance is suspected of blowing up your old house."

He let out another sigh. "I suppose I can think up a story. We'll have to get in and out of there as fast as possible though."

"No sweat. And at least this will get my father off my case about how I'm just delirious for thinking you're alive."

"Yeah…"

**0000000**

"Huh?" Sarena paused her gate as she walked by an old alley—the same one she had found Enzan in. before her eyes, a female sat, knees pulled to her chest, and crying eyes, buried from view.

Sarena set a hand on Laika's shoulder. "Would you excuse me a minute?"

He nodded and watched as Sarena approached the girl. "Excuse me…"

The girl looked up, her emerald eyes shimmering with tears. "Y-yes?"

"Are you alright? Do you need help?"

"My father…m-m-murdered." She sniffled before flying back into violent sobs.

"Murdered?! By who!?" Sarena clenched her fists. Cases like these proved worthy for gaining vengeance members, but infuriated her at the same time.

"I-I-I..I don't k-know his name…he's a b-big company man though. M-my father w-w-was a servant at his h-house." She sniffled, wiping her eyes and trying to speak. "I think the man was a p-president of a big c-com-company."

Sarena frowned deeper. "Do you know which company?"

"Uh…I-IPC I think…" she looked timidly at the black haired girl, "W-why?"

"Have you gone to the police about this?" Sarena asked calmly.

The girl looked down. "Y-yeah. They didn't believe me."

Sarena smiled. "I know exactly how you feel. The same thing happened to me. In fact, the man who murdered your father, murdered my parents as well."

The girl looked at her with big eyes. "r-realy?!"

"Here." She stood up, and held out a hand. "Do you want revenge on him?"

The young teenage girl nodded her head quickly and almost childishly. "yes!" she took Sarena's hand, standing up. She had long blonde hair that cascaded over her shoulders, a black turtleneck with a pink jacket over it, and a blue denim skirt.

"What is your name?"

"Nina." The girl responded simply. "Who are you?"

"Someone that's going to help you get revenge." Sarena smiled warmly. "But for now you can call me Mika."

**0000000**

A knock on the door startled a busy scientist. "Come in!"

"I hope you'll believe me now, papa." The brunette entered, followed by Enzan.

The older Hikari turned to face the two. He stood up, looking at Enzan a bit perplexed. "Enzan…? Is that really you?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"You look…different now. What happened to your hair?"

"I dyed it. Saying I'm Enzan is like saying that Elvis is alive. Just imagine how that would've gone over only a month after his death? People would've seen it as a cruel joke."

"I understand…but…why didn't you come to us for help when the Blues issue arose?"

"I wanted as few people as possible to know I was alive. Vengeance has been attacking my father and his company non-stop. If people know what happened with my father kicking me out, and that I'm alive, they would begin to blame me for it."

"I see now." The doctor smiled and patted the younger on the shoulder. "Well it's good to see you alive and well!"

"I told you!" Netto spoke up indignantly.

"Yes, yes. I'm sorry." He chuckled.

"Anyways, Enzan was able to retrieve his tracking program to find blues, and all we need is a vaccine chip. But it needs to have the purge program that's found in the trap we used to get Rockman back."

The doctor looked at them confused.

"We're guessing that the dark chip technology has gotten stronger, so in order to purge Blues of it, we'll need a stronger vaccine chip." Enzan explained.

"I see…" the doctor rubbed his chin pensively. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks papa!" Netto grinned.

"Yes, thank you." Enzan added with more reserved tone.

"OH! One more question!" Netto added

"Yes?" The doctor asked, getting up from his chair.

"How could a human become a dark human, along with their navi?"

Dr. Hikari thought a moment. "Well I'm suspecting crossfusion. But usually a dark chip would only taint a navi, and usually when a human crossfuses, it breaks the navi out of darkness, or the navi takes over completely. But the human would not be affected. Why?"

"Could a dark crossfusion chip do that?" Netto asked

"I suppose. But there aren't any that we know of."

"I think we do know of one." Enzan responded

"How?"

"Papa…they got Meiru."

**0000000**

"I'm good with navi operation, though I only got to use the servant navi's when I'd go with my father to work. We could never afford our own." Nina explained as they stood in the alley

"Do you remember a navi named Blues?"

The teenager bobbed her head no. "That was his other son's navi, right?"

"Oh…so your father worked with ootosha and Rukku?" Sarena asked as she and Nina conversed

"Yes, I believe that's what their names were. Rukku was a jerk!" she huffed. "always making rude comments about me. I couldn't say anything though, seeing as we were the 'lowly servant and his daughter'; I just had to take it."

"What would you do to get revenge?"

"I'd do anything." Nina replied determinedly.

"Such as join a gang?"

She paused hesitantly "…If it would kill that man, then yes."

"Have you heard of Vengeance?"

Nina bobbed her head yes, then smirked. "Why? Are you part of them?"

"If they were going after him, would you want to be?" Sarena ignored her question

"I'd join in a nano second." Nina beamed.

"Welcome to the team, then." Sarena held out her hand. By this point she had made sure that she had nina cornered, in case she tried to escape and reveal her identity.

"Sweet. So, are you guys really the ones who bombed his house?"

"The one and only." Sarena grinned. "Now, come on. We need to get you set up." She pulled out her cell phone, and not too long after she began to talk. "Hey Ko, I've got a new member for you."

"What? The blue guy?"

"Nope. A girl. Probably red's age, maybe a little younger. Shuuseki murdered her father."

"Technology or Brute Force?"

"Technology for sure."

"I'll get a room set up. Which team do you think? Red blue or green?"

"Put her in Red. She'll be working with us on our mission."

"Fair enough. Where are you?"

"By the old floral beauty. See you soon." Sarena smiled as she hung up the phone.

"I can't believe I'm doing this…" Nina thought aloud

"Hey, we're not like a gang. We're serving justice to those who deserve it. You're doing the right thing." Sarena comfortingly set her hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"I just…yeah. You're right." Nina smiled, her emerald eyes shining with confident confusion.

**0000000**

"They got Meiru?!" Netto's father exclaimed

"And Roll." Rockman interjected

"That's what we're thinking. She was in all black, and then after school today she gave me a death threat. Everyone knows Meiru would never do that." Netto frowned. "And I know this was no joke; she was dead serious."

The doctor sighed. "What's your plan?"

"We're thinking that if we find Blues, we'll find them. We just have to get to her before she gets to us." Enzan explained.

"This is insane…" he shook his head. "Who would be doing this?"

"We have a strong suspicion that this may be the rise of a neo-nebula." Netto explained. "Or Vengeance."

Enzan gulped. He had hoped to avoid bringing up the group at all costs, and immediately tried to change the direction of the conversation. "But Nebula seems more probable, seeing as Vengeance would not have the power to taint Blues, Rockman, Roll and even more surprisingly Meiru. Judging from their attacks, they're after humans. Mainly those of high power. Why would they go after Meiru or roll?"

"Nebula knew the way to target me and Rockman was to get to our friends. It only makes sense." Netto added

"It seems the most logical explanation…Enzan, you said you were able to retrieve the tracking program?"

"Yes."

"Then lets get started. There's no time to lose!" The doctor stood up

"Enzan and I will work on tracking Blues. We just need you to get the purge program." Netto confirmed

"I'll get working on it right away. You can use my computer over there if you need."

"Arigatou, Hikase." Enzan nodded and the two began to work on finding their lost friends.

Minutes later, Enzan located the position on the net where his best friend rest. The two looked at the screen confusedly. Where Blues was, was a place unknown to either of them.

"Lamb net? Where's that?" Netto thought out loud

"Your guess is as good as mine. Let me see if I can find a earth location for it." Enzan began to type away. "Huh…that's strange…there is none."

"But isn't the net a parallel of what's here on earth?"

"Besides Net City, yeah, it should be."

Netto got up, "I'm going to ask my dad. See what you can find online about it." As he walked out of the room, he spotted a familiar face approaching him from down the hallway

"Sarena! What're you doing here?"

"I decided it's time I got a navi." She said, walking up to him with Laika following close behind

"That's cool." He turned to Laika, "Hey, have you ever heard of Lamb Net?"

While he shook his head no, Sarena's eyes grew wide. "I have…why?"

"Enzan was able to trace Blues back to that location. The problem is, we have no idea where it is on the net, and there's no place on earth parallel to that location."

"I've heard of it…but I always thought it was a myth…"

"What do you mean? Is there something special about it?"

"Very. Is Enzan here?"

"Yeah, he's working on one of my dad's computers in his lab. He's looking up the location right now."

"Take me to him. We need to talk right now." Sarena spoke, her voice almost quivering with worry.

Netto nodded and the three walked to the room only a few feet away. Once inside, they all sat down.

"Now what's so special about Lamb net?" Laika asked

"Have any of you heard of the four horsemen of the apocalypse?" They all nodded yes, but with confused expressions. "Think of it this way: the Bible says that the Lamb will open seven seals. The first four seals are the four horsemen. The first one, a white horse that symbolizes a conqueror bent on conquest, The second one, a red horse meant to take peace from the earth…" she paused her voice quivering as she began to whisper in shock, "to him was given a large sword… The red key! My god! It makes sense now!"

Enzan's eyes grew wide. "You don't think it means Blues, do you?"

"Well it would certainly make sense! He's red and his main weapon is a sword. Why would they take him? And remember my dream about mother? Here, move aside…" she took Enzan's place at the computer and began to search for the red horse of the apocalypse. Upon finding the verse, she began to quote the bible, "The verse says, 'Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.'" She shook her head. "Now I may not be a Christian girl, but the serendipity of this scripture, along with Blues' situation is enough to make me say that whoever has Blues may be planning a large scale attack."

"But that doesn't tell us where he is. If the Lamb is supposed to be God, does that mean he's in heaven?" Netto asked

she shook her head. "Lamb net…or so the story told, is supposed to be another dimension."

"Well that's just great." Enzan sighed. "How are we supposed to get there?"

"I think there's someone we should talk to who might know more about Lamb net than anyone." Rockman spoke up

Netto looked at his PET questioningly, "Who's that?"

"Miyuki. She's all into spirits and otherworldly affairs. She might be able to help us locate a portal to Lamb net." Rockman concluded.

"Good idea. Sarena might be able to go with us if she gets her navi today too."

"You're getting a navi?" Enzan asked

"That's why I came here. I figured it's about time." She turned her head suddenly, along with the other three as the door opened and Dr. Hikari entered.

"I got it." He held up a chip to show Netto and Enzan. "Oh! Laika-san. I didn't know you were visiting." He looked over at Sarena. "and who are you?"

"Doctor Hikari, this is my half-sister, Takamura Sarena." Enzan stood up, followed by Sarena.

"I met you once, Doctor. I was really little, but my father-"

"Used to work with me." He smiled. "Last time we met you were just a little girl . I never knew you were related to Enzan, though."

"Neither did I, but apparently she did." Enzan looked at his sister

"Shuuseki didn't like me very much." She shook her head and scoffed, "according to him, I was undignified and uneducated child."

"What happened to your father?"

she looked at Enzan, then responded awfully monotonously, "Heart attack."

The doctor frowned. "I'm sorry…He must've died after we finished our project. I did think it strange that I never saw him again after that, though."

"Well, that's what happened." she sighed, shaking her head as if she were shaking away the bad memories of what had really happened. "But anyways, its nice to meet you."

"Papa, do you think you could create a navi for her?" Netto spoke up

He looked over at his son, then the female, and smiled. "I should be able to arrange that. Here, come with me. The process shouldn't take too long. Oh, and Enzan, did you find out anything about blues?"

"Quite a bit. Have you heard of a place called Lamb net?"

The doctor, who had lifted his hand to scratch his head, paused in mid air, "I've heard the myth…is that where you found him?"

"It is. I double checked, and it came up with the same place both times."

"It's only a theory, but if you know the myth…We believe Blues may be one of the horsemen." Sarena spoke up

The doctor scrunched his eyebrows. "The red one?"

"Needed to bring judgment, yes. We think we may know a way to get to Lamb net to stop them though."

"Isn't it in a different dimension?"

"Laika and I were going to visit Miyuki to see if she knows of a portal between our dimension and lamb net. She of all people, would know where to find one if it exists." Netto explained

The doctor nodded. "I'll work on getting Sarena's navi. Enzan, you stay here and find out as much as you can about Lamb net. Also make sure that Blues' position doesn't change. Netto, you and Laika go ahead and visit Miyuki."

"Wait a minute…Netto, wouldn't gateman be capable of transporting and opening dimensions? I mean, he was able to get us into the undernet."

"True. But finding him will be more than difficult." Netto paused as he seemed to remember something "Wait…do you remember when we met Pharoman that same day?"

"I think so, what about it?"

"The area we were in…it was proof to a…what did you call it? It was something about an advanced prehistorical something or other."

"Oh, Hyper advanced prehistoric civilizations?"

"Yeah! That! Remember we thought that his temple was one of the artifacts to prove that those civilizations existed?" Netto asked

"I remember now. Pharoman said we were correct not only about that, but of the entire undernet."

"If that's true, then it would make sense." Enzan spoke up. "Seeing the entirety of religion dates back to prehistoric times along with the undernet apparently, it would make sense that there would be a way to reach Lamb net from there. It also makes sense because the undernet is like a playground for Darkloids."

"So papa, what do you think?"

"I think you're onto something. But I still think you should speak to Miyuki. She should be able to prepare you for what may be ahead in that area and she might be able to tell you if there's a safer entrance."

"I'm not convinced." Laika crossed his arms. "This seems a little too hokey for even a neo nebula."

"Laika-san, the legend of Lamb net has been that if the four horsemen should ever gather, judgment will be carried out." Yuuchiro explained. "It's always been a myth, but seeing that Enzan was able to track Blues there is proof that it exists. The fact that Blues' description fits one of the horsemen is reason to believe that this is a real threat." He shook his head. "I can hardly believe it myself…" He paused, "But then again, I've seen so many paranormal events that I feel like saying 'what's new?'"

With this explanation, Laika let his arms rest to his side. "So what are we waiting for? If judgment can be stopped, then we better hop to it before its too late."

**0000000**

Arisa: Betchya didn't see that coming!

Icy: I remember we got the idea from talking to Autumn, who was saying something about "Even if the four horsemen were attacking, he'd still be there." when we talked to her this morning.

Arisa: But like Sarena, what surprised me the most was to read the part where he was armed with a sword. Before I looked in my bible to find that verse, I vaguely remembered the colors of the horses, and I thought there might've been a red one. I was totally caught off guard when I read the sword part. I can only say one thing which is my favorite thing to say: serendipity!

Icy: It truly does fit. If you notice, that word and Sarena's name sound awfully alike. Because ironic events are in almost every chapter, we designed her name to sound like the word serendipity.

Arisa: but the most ironic thing is how I wrote one chapter, and three weeks later almost the exact same thing happened to me (the laika/Sarena kiss scene. O.o I got kissed by a guy I didn't really like, and I kissed him back because I was just trying to get over my ex. SOUND FAMILIAR!? #$)

Icy: -.-; you don't need to tell the world about your love life.

Arisa: . anyways. Also the part about the hyper advanced prehistoric civilizations can be found in the manga volume three. Gateman helps him to pharoman's temple and once inside he finds what seems to be an artifact of an old civilization. Pharoman tells him he's over 20,000 years old, and when Netto laughs, saying he's trying to pull their leg, Rock reminds him of a class discussion where Mariko-sensei teaches them about Hyper Advanced Prehistoric Civilizations. Though she claims it's a myth, Pharoman proves that they were real, and in fact, the whole realm of the undernet is part of the old civilization.

Icy: so it would only makes sense that such an old religion that has it's own dimension would be linked to the undernet in some way.

Arisa: So, if Blues is the Red Horsman…who are the others? :3 Find out next chapter!


	16. Chapter 16: Plugin, Ares!

**Chapter 16: Plugin, Ares!**

**0000000**

While the doctor sat at the computer, focusing on thescreen, Sarena placed her hand on the DNA reader. As a beam of light movedacross the pad, resembling something like a scanner, she took a deep breath.Watching as it ended, she anticipated a prick on her finger, as she had beentold she would feel. And then she felt it.

Instantly on the screen, information about her hair, eye,and skin color appeared along with other facts about her body and all hergenetic specifications taken from the tiniest drop of blood. Other specificsthat were able to be determined by this time were basic stamina facts such ashearing, strength, eyesight, and more. All these were necessary for building acustomized navi. The neatest part of the whole process was the outcome, whererandomization and select traits combined to create a being—with acompletely random personality and soul.

"You can remove your hand from the pad now." Heprompted.

"I'm so nervous for some reason…what if Imess up and it gets deleted? I mean, I only ever used the basic navi'sthey provided at school, and even then I wasn't great atoperation."

Yuuchiro simply smiled as he continued to stare at thescreen. "My son was the same way. Before he got Rockman, he had a basicnavi and had a hard time at ever winning a net battle. Once those two gottogether, though, he and Rockman went to the N1 Grand Prix," He paused,"And as a matter of fact, battled against your brother as the top twofinalists."

"Enzan was there?" she asked a little shocked,but then chuckled, "Go figure."

"But something to note," another voice added asthey entered the room, "If I had had any other navi, I wouldn'thave won."

She took in this information carefully as she watched himenter.

"Exactly. You may learn that you're a skillednet battler with this navi. When the personality and bond between a net naviand the net op become strong, so do their skills. It's almost like anatural skill that takes some practice." The doctor explained

"I see…so it's like some people have goodbalance, but in order to walk on a tight rope, they still have topractice."

"Right. It also takes a willingness and a desire toget better." Enzan added.

"As long as you cooperate with your navi and have thesame goals, you'll get good results."

Sarena sighed. "That seems like a lot to remember. Idon't know…"

"Just relax. It'll come naturally." Thedoctor reassured her. He smiled, and almost gaped, as the final pieces of thenavi came together. "This is amazing...I've never seen this beforein my life!"

"Pardon?"

"This navi…you'll recognize it. Do youwant to see it now or once it's in the PET?"

Sarena looked at Enzan then replied hesitantly,"…I'll wait." The doctor nodded then sat back andwatched the screen as she stood next to her brother. "Did you find outanything about Lamb net?"

"Nothing we didn't already know. My guess isthat it's deep enough in the undernet that those who have tried to findit either a. did, but didn't live to tell the tale, or b. never did. Butthere are many that do believe it exists, and their guesses confirm thatit's most likely in the undernet, based on observations likeNetto's." He paused, "But I did find something interestingabout the fabled horsemen."

"Oh?"

"Whenever I read about them in accordance to lamb net,there was also a great beast mentioned. It would always be the four horsemen orthe great beast. From what I gathered, when the four horsemen combine, theycreate a beast capable of destruction that resembles judgment day. Apparentlyit has the capacity to destroy both the net and our world."

"It would make sense why mother wouldn't wantthem to have blues. I thought when she said red key she meant an actual key.But it's actually the key to creating this monster. And Blues may be thekey."

"When did your mother tell you this?" The doctorasked confusedly.

"When I was in the hospital, apparently dead, I had adream where she told me to wake up, and that I needed to find the Redkey." She shook her head, "Up until now I thought it was just mymind playing tricks on me."

All three turned their heads to the computer as it made abeep, signaling the navi was ready for installation. Dr. Hikari set thecomplimentary PET in the base, and began to upload the customized navi to it.

**0000000**

Bells on the wooden door jingled as two young men enteredthrough. The urns, vases, and other antiques on the shelves all seemed to havetheir own story to tell, and as the shopkeeper once told Netto, all possessed aspirit. Of course, they were hard to even see with the store so poorly lit.

"We should go. She probably left and forgot to lockthe door." Laika tugged his sleeve, noting the darkness of the store.

"No," Netto shook his head, "This is howit always is."

Laika raised any eyebrow. "Go figure. You meander withfairytales and you end up consulting a witch."

"If you're speaking of fairytales as what isunrealistic, you are wrong."

The two turned around to see Miyuki standing behind them,holding a lit candle.

"Sheesh, you really know how to freak a personout!" Netto sighed after nearly being given a heart attack.

Laika, on the other hand, remained much more composed."What do you mean?"

"You equate witches and fairytales as if both arepointless and unrealistic. In truth, there is much more reality than meets theeye. Look around you." she replied in her normal calm and quiet voice.

"You believe that each thing has a spirit. I believethat each was made from certain materials, and at the base of all of it, areatoms and nothing more. That's what scientifically has beenproven." Laika responded coldly.

She simply smiled. "So callow…you cannot seefarther than your brain." She closed her eyes, still smiling, thenopened. "I can sense it. You've locked away your soul and try topretend like it doesn't exist as if it were some sort of disease."

He narrowed his eyes, "That's because there isno such thing as a spirit or a soul."

"Then how do navi's perform soul unison? How doyou crossfuse with your navi?"

"How did you know-"

"I can read your mind as well as your soul. I know alot about you, Laika-san, commander of the fifth division of the shaaroarmy." She smiled.

Suddenly, as if his mind were being frozen, hecould've sworn he thought Miyuki's voice in his head, _'andif you didn't have a soul, you wouldn't be in love with her.'_

"h-h-how did you do that?!" Laika asked, finallyloosing his calm composure.ik,l

"Oh, just with one of my fairytale abilities."She grinned, then looked at Netto who seemed to be enjoying this spectaclethoroughly.

"So anyways, you two have come to me for…"she closed her eyes… "Ah, yes. Lamb net. Follow me."

Netto began to walk with her, followed by Laika, who wasmuch more hesitant about going along with this woman. He paused, looking aroundhim, as if to make sure no one besides Netto was going to witness him followingthis crazy woman.

"Hayaku!" The younger prompted.

Once the three of them had seated around Miyuki'scrystal orb, she had closed her eyes and began to focus on the misty wondered if all answers to life's questions could be found inthere; Laika felt incredibly stupid. Now he had to get out of there withoutbeing spotted by someone he knew, and with his luck, he probably would be.

_I called in sick. I really can't afford to be seen._

"I have summoned a gate man to assist you in yourjourney. Fate is left up to you. Beware of a intervention. Someone will seem tobe assisting you…a female, but the result can cause greaterdamage."

"Female? You mean Sarena?"

Miyuki shook her head. "You have yet to meether."

"Well if that isn't vague." Laika shookhis head. "Just tell us where to find this gateman."

Miyuki sighed then pointed toward a marble statue resemblinga gargoyle perched on a building that was only half it's size. "Jack into that statue. And if Itold you who it was, you wouldn't know her, and you wouldn't allowher to…" Miyuki paused, searching for the right words,"flourish."

"Flourish?" Netto echoed with confusion in hisvoice "what do you mean?"

"You'd kill her. Or lock her up." Miyukipaused, "She has a big role to play, but keep her away from your currentsituation at all costs, particularly lamb net."

Once both navi's had made their way onto the net, theywere met with one of the gatemen. Since Rockman's last encounter provedthat he could be just as dense as his net-op, he insisted that every gatemanshould have a name. Thus he named each one, though different,"gateman."

"Gateman!" Rock cried happily to he who seemedlike an old friend.

"Do I know you?" The tall navi asked, turningtoward the blue, enthusiastic navi.

"You helped us find pharoman." Rockmanresponded, almost sounding cute in his display of confusion.

"Must have been another gateman. There are many of us.Individual gatemen do not have-"

"names. Yeah, I know. I just wondered you were thesame one. I didn't know they all looked the same too."

"That I am not. But we must hurry. Darkness is brewingin the Undernet and imminent is the destruction of this earth and thenet."

Both navis, Searchman and Rockman, nodded before jumpingthrough a warp-hole the gateman provided. It's condescending, black swirlof nothingness instilled a sort of fear in the two of them, but they jumpedthrough anyways, knowing it had to be done. As they landed rather harshly inthe deserted area, they stood up, viewing the rather bleak and monotonousscenery.

"Nostalgia." Netto shook his head. "Seemslike yesterday."

"Nah, more like three days ago. I was hererecently."

Netto piped up, "Na, Rockman. What do you rememberexactly?"

The blue navi fell silent, looking down. _A lot of thingsI'd love to forget, that's for sure. Mainly how I pulled Blues intothis whole mess. If anything,I'm going to be the one to fix this. _Shakinghis head of his thoughts and bringing himself back to the real world, hereplied, "I know we needed the booster system. Why, I can't quiteremember, but I'm sure it has something to do with this."

"But as far as locations…"

"I don't remember much. I remember some images,but mostly dark places that I would only recognize if I were to see them again.And I pray to god that won't happen."

"Are you ready then?" the gateman asked, causingthe two net-ops and corresponding navis to nod in agreement.

"What are we going to do exactly when we get there?"Searchman paused before entering the second warp hole the gateman had opened bythis time.

"What we came to do. Rescue Blues and stop theApocalypse." Rockman answered plainly.

**0000000**

The doctor handed a small red PET to the female, desperatelytrying to hide a large smile growing on his face.

As she noticed the color of the PET, a confused expressiongrew on her face. "Red?" she wondered carefully. By this time,PET's were programmed to be the color of their corresponding net navi."huh, well, my favorite color is purple…"

"Hm. Boot it up." Enzan prodded. He wasinterested in seeing what this navi looked like, what it was capable of, andmost of all, why the doctor seemed so giddy to be delivering this navi.

Both waited anxiously and stared at the screen as pixelsflew around every which way, streams of data zoomed by and a navi was revealed.

"That's…!" Sarena gasped, hardlyable to speak

Enzan's reaction was similar, though more intuitiveand thoughtful "It can't be…"

"Konichiwa, Sarena-sama. My name is Ares." Thenavi stated simply, a calm, cool expression on her face. She had a purple visorthat shaded her eyes, though did not hide vibrant blue of them. Her helmet wasred, with white tiger-like stripes mismatched and strewn about as a design onthe very top. She had long black hair that flew from her helmet and silverywhite strands that protruded from the navi insignia on either side of herhelmet. Her outfit was much like that of Blues, except her red vest resembledmore of a tank top- leaving her shoulders with the normal navi outfit. Also,the stripes on her sides were inverted and the black changed to white, so mostof her body was white, except for purple stripes down her side. Red boots andred gloves eclipsed her arms and legs in the same fashion as Blues'. Alsolike him, she carried a sword, but it was different. His was a long standardEuropean-style sword; Hers had the style of a samurai's sword. Aside fromthat, the way their swords came out of their arms remained identical. Most ofall, her insignia and Blues' insignia were exactly the same.

"How is that possible? I programmed Blues to beunique. How could her programming be so similar? Even their insignia'sare the same!" Enzan gaped

"Sarena-sama, are you feeling well?"

"uh, hai. I'm just recovering over the shock ofhow similar you look to my brother's navi."

"I would love to meet this navi."

"We…we can't do that quite yet. He'sbeen taken…tainted by a darkness. We're working on rescuing himright now."

Ares frowned a thoughtful look. "I will helpyou."

Sarena laughed, "Hun, I wasn't even sure aboutgetting a navi in the first place, I mean, I'm not skilled at handling anavi at all!"

"I'll help you. Since she's so similar toBlues, training you should not be hard." Enzan offered.

"But first things first. Please, I'm not one forformalities. You can just call me Sarena-chan."

Ares slightly smiled. "Alright, Sarena-chan.Let's practice so we can rescue this 'Blues'"

"I don't think that's a good idea rightnow." Enzan paused the two like a raincloud on a picnic, "Searchmanand Rockman are probably already headed toward Lamb net. There's no waythe two of you are going to be able to train up enough to counter him.Especially in his dark form. As it is, Searchman and Rockman may have a hardtime getting to him by themselves, and they're trained to handledarkloids."

"Which is why they'll need her help. Look ather, Enzan. Do you see the connection? Like you said, there's no way anavi could've been created to be so similar. It must have beensupernatural, and the only reason why she would be so similar is becausesomeone really wants us to have Blues back. Any guesses who?"

He looked at her with a strained, hesitant expression. Evenwith all the irony, he wasn't ready to believe that some"ghost" was helping them out. Especially his mother."…But how would we keep her safe. We have no idea what kind ofviruses roam in lamb net."

Sarena handed over the PET. "Ares, this is my brother,Enzan. I know it's fast, but we're going to need your help to getback Blues. Enzan is a very skilled net-battler, so I'm trusting him tooperate you for this mission."

"I understand, Sarena-chan."

The doctor, who had been on the phone during theintroduction, came to the two with an announcement. "I just got a callfrom Netto. He and Laika have already gone to the undernet with the aid of agateman that Miyuki summoned."

Enzan looked at her sister, whom looked back. "Letthem know I'll be joining them with a familiar face."

"Will do."

**0000000**

"I hope Enzan gets here soon. What do you think hemeant by 'a familiar face'?" Netto asked Laika as they sataround the statue.

"Your guess is as good as mine. It's been almosthalf an hour." Patience was obviously not a virtue to the older.

Miyuki came to the two with some tea in hand. "Here,it's a special tea given to me by saloma."

"Thanks!" Netto took the cup graciously,forgetting that tea was not on the list of his favorite drinks. After takinghastily taking a sip, he stuck his tongue out at the taste and the heat of thedrink.

Laika simply shook his head, taking time to drink his teawith much more caution. After taking in the scent of the tea and absorbing theflavor, he set the cup down and closed his eyes contentedly. "This isvery good. What is it?"

"White pocal flower and honey. While relaxing, pocalflower is also known for bringing good luck." Miyuki said, taking a sipfrom her own cup. From that point on they all seemed focused on their ownindividual cups of tea, rather than making conversation.

It was only when bells on the shop door jingled did thethree snap out of their tea-induced trances.

"Sorry we're late." Sarena said, enteringalong with her brother, "We came as fast as we could."

"Is she the familiar face?" Netto asked

"No…This is." Enzan handed the PET toNetto, whose eyes nearly flew out of their sockets as he saw the blueslook-alike.

"Holy crap! It's a female blues!" Nettoexclaimed

Ares retained a calm expression. "My name isAres."

"ah, where are my manners. My name is Hikari Netto,and my navi Rockman is already on the net."

Miyuki seemed to take as much of an interest in the navi asthe other two did. "That's very interesting indeed."

"It's more than interesting, for sure."Netto shook his head.

"Do any of you Greek mythology?" Miyuki asked,receiving puzzled expressions. "Ares was the God of War."

Sarena's eyes widened, "The Red horseman inChristian believe is supposed to symbolize warfare…"

"You don't think that _she's _ the redhorseman?" Enzan asked

"It's possible. Most likely, yes."

Ares frowned. On the ride over, she had been acquainted withthe current situation and their belief of what was taking place. "I trulyseek peace. That is all."

"The god of war was not a vicious god. He wasa…skilled warrior. He was loving as well."

"But how come Ares is a girl, and this was a God ofwar, not a goddess." Laika finally spoke up

"Hey, Ares can be a girls or a guys name."Sarena cast a playful glare in his direction. "I think it's arather pretty name."

"But aside from that…do you really thinkit's safe for us to send her then?" Netto asked

"We've already decided. Ares was created byfate…the fact that she's so similar to Blues means she may be theonly one physically able to break him out of the darkness."

"But we may lose her in the process…I mean, nooffense, but I hardly doubt you can tackle a trained navi." Netto lookedat her worriedly.

"That's why I'll be operating Ares."Enzan stepped in. "I've already practiced with her a bit. Her styleis much like Blues'."

"Shall we be going then?" Laika asked, earningnods in response.

"Plug in, Ares. Transmission!"

**0000000**

Arisa: It was either Ares or Inanna. Although Inanna was agoddess of war and actually is remembered for her journey into the underworld(hah! Irony…) I can't stand her name -.- I really like Ares, eventhough it's a male name.

Icy: yeah, not much to comment about on this one. Though it'sfunny that Miyuki and Laika don't get along very well. He's just astubborn, realistic guy though.

Arisa: y'know, its so strange. I used to hate Enzanwhen I first saw the anime, but he soon became my favorite character. Then bythe time laika was introduced in the game, I was certain I hated him too, and Ihave all this time, until I added him as a character. I was forced to learnmore about his personality, and now he's become one of my favorites aswell. (his eyes are just like Enzan's!)

Icy: I really think it has to do with that fan-fic you read…

Arisa: that could…possibly, maybe have ..quite a gooddeal to do with it…

Icy: -shakes head- whatever turns you on.

Arisa: -chokes on soda-

Icy: -.-; Anyways, review please. That's all.


	17. Chapter 17: The Beast

**Chapter 17: The Beast**

**0000000**

After having found Searchman and Rockman, and quickly introducing, the Ares and the two were given another portal by the gate man.

"I cannot send you there directly, but this will take you to the entrance." He explained, opening the air as if he were ripping a sheet of paper. He stood there hesitant to let them go, "I feel as if I'm about to send you all to your death…" he paused, "But the bravery and purity of your hearts shine…I can only hope it's enough for you to come out victorious."

"Will we be able to jack out there or will we need a gate?" Rockman asked.

"You will need a gate" The gateman sent out three sparks of light, which soon formed into hexagonal shaped gates.

As the gates were transferred to the PETs, the three stepped through the portal, first Rockman, then Searchman and finally Ares, who paused before entering.

"What's wrong?" Sarena asked as she watched her navi hesitate on the holographic screen.

"I…I feel an odd sensation pulling me in. I feel…doomed." She frowned, but the shook her head, her black hair bobbing as she did so. "No…if I'm needed then I must go."

"Don't worry. Enzan won't let you be deleted. You're in good hands. Plus, you have Rockman and Searchman who, don't forget, have been friends with Blues for a very long time. You just have to trust that everything will be fine in the end." Sarena smiled. "And I have faith that you've have a…supernatural force on your side. I think that makes for a pretty unbeatable team, don't you?"

Ares smiled weakly, "Yeah, I guess." She took a deep breath before entering into the nothingness of everything.

Once there, the three looked around in shock. It was as if they were truly in the middle of no where. There was no visible floor, no walls, no anything to give them a sense of direction. It was as if they were in outer space…utter blackness illuminated in white light.

"What is this place?"

"How do we know which way to go if every way leads no where?" Rockman asked, perturbed.

"Let Ares lead." Miyuki spoke up as she watched the screen.

"what?" Netto asked somewhat stupidly

"Let her lead."

"But how would I know where to go?" Ares asked, viewing the link screen that showed all their anticipating faces.

"Just walk. Without knowing it, your feet will guide you." Miyuki instructed.

"Okay…" Ares sighed. _I hope so…god I hope I don't screw up. Everyone's depending on me …._The two following navis joined her as she began to walk in the direction of, well… somewhere. After about three minutes of getting nowhere, which was where they essentially began, she stopped. "This is ridiculous." As she threw her hands in the air, she was caught off guard as one of them hit against something hard. "huh?" she immediately began to feel the air where she felt her hand hit. "I think there's something here!"

Rockman put his hand where hers was, but frowned as his hand cut through the air. "There's nothing there…"

Ares slammed her hand against the weight of whatever she was feeling. "No! there is!"

Searchman took his turn placing his hand to whatever it was she felt, but also felt his hand glide through the air.

The red female growled. "I'm serious! There's something here!"

"We believe you, its just…why can't we feel it?" Rockman frowned.

"Because you don't really believe. Ares must have believed there was something there. Focus on thinking that there's something there." Miyuki guided.

Rockman took a deep breath before envisioning a wall. Slowly, he placed his hands were hers was, and sure enough, he felt a wall below his fingertips. Patting it in disbelief, he laughed. "There is!"

"So the entrance is really in our minds then…Whatever we believe becomes real!" Ares exclaimed happily.

Searchman, who had remained quiet, copied Rockman's actions and soon found their hypothesis to be correct. "So if we can just envision this area looking like the real net, it would make finding our way around a lot easier."

Ares smiled, "sounds like a plan." Closing her eyes, she focused, along with the other two.

Come to me… 

She gasped, opening her eyes, only to find the area shaped just like a real cyber-matrix. "It worked!"

"I think we've found our entrance as well." Rockman stated, pointing to red transport pad.

_Come…._

Ares stood frozen while the other two proceeded. She whimpered, causing her comrades to turn around.

"Ares-chan…are you coming?" Rockman looked at her confused

"I…a voice…" she stuttered out

Come! 

She gulped. "NO!"

"Ares!" Sarena "What's wrong?"

"I can't go on…Something bad…it's beckoning me to come…and I just can't." She stood there as the color drained from her face.

Rockman frowned. "It's Blues. Or at least the darksoul…I know what you're talking about." She looked up at him, "The voice won't harm you. We're headed to where he is anyways. He's just trying to scare you…to make you lose confidence in yourself."

She gulped as she nodded, taking a deep breath. "You're right…lets go." She followed Rockman, with Searchman following her close behind.

As they arrived at the teleport pad, the green navi caught her worried expression and set a gloved hand on her shoulder, "We won't let anything happen to you."

She smiled, "I'm not going to put that burden on you two. Just focusing on getting Blues out of there. Alive."

"You haven't even experienced what life has to offer yet. We have. We're not going to let you get deleted without ever having that chance."

She nodded, not saying anything, but walked forward. All three of them streamed out of the area at the same time, and landed in their next destination. When they saw…they gasped in shock.

The area was surrounded in white. Lines between the tiles were illuminated with gold, but the true glory was in the center of the area. Four cyber horses stood impatiently upon four floating thrones. The thrones were shaped in a diamond, and in the center of the diamond was a large head. It had the nose of a horse, teeth of a lion, eyes of a human, horns of a bull and behind it and the thrones were two large wings: one with black feathers, another shaped like a dragon's wing. On the very bottom throne, seated next to a white horse, was a purely white navi. It's head was hung as if it were sleeping, and it's long and pale blonde hair hung with it. Three thrones remained to be filled.

"It seems we caught just the two mice we were looking for!" A villainous voice echoed

"That voice…it can't be. Rockman, didn't you say that it was Regal who was in charge?" Enzan looked at the blue navi in disbelief.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure…although I never once saw his face. Why?"

"You filthy scum!" Enzan nearly screamed at the voice as an uplink showed his face in the cyber world.

"Now, Enzan…that's no way to talk to your father, now is it?" the voice chuckled

Sarena scooted closer, and Enzan handed her the PET. "So you're the mastermind behind all this. Why am I NOT surprised?!" she barked fiercely. "Got a little taste of power and now you've gone mad. But then again, ANYONE who'd murder their own wife is most definitely insane."

The voice chuckled "I can make the world bend to my will with this beast. I can wipe out anything—anyone with this beast. I can assure you you'll be first in line, Takemura Sarena."

"Not if I can help it. Ares, attack the head!"

Ares nodded, running forward and slashing at the monster. Though as animate as a statue, the head took no damage. "It's useless—ah!" as she stood in front of the statue, the thrones re-arranged for the head to open it's mouth. A large sucking wind began to pull her in as she tried to pull away.

"Ares!" Rockman began to blast the head, trying to find some sort of weakness.

"May I?" Enzan asked calmly, reaching out a hand.

Sarena quickly gave him back the PET.

"Alright Ares, listen up. This is the perfect opportunity to attack, let the monster pull you in, but attack while inside. I'm going to load a barrier then give you three chips that'll become a program advance. Once the barrier loads, let yourself be pulled in and attack, alright?"

"Got it."

_I hope he knows what he's doing…_ Sarena worried to herself

"barrier, sword, wide sword, long sword. Program advance: Life Sword!" Enzan quickly threw in the chips in order.

Ares accepted the barrier and gave up resistance, letting herself being pulled into the beast. She quickly accepted the life sword, cutting the inside of the monster's mouth. The beast let out a howl, causing Ares to fly out the way she came in. Landing on the floor with a thud, she was thankful for the barrier at this point.

"You think you can counter the beast with that little imitation?" The voice, which Enzan realized without a doubt was his father's, antagonized.

"If you're so sure, why do you keep Blues locked away in your little hiding place? Are you afraid of losing him?"

"Heh…who says I'm keeping him locked away?" Shuuseki chuckled.

Searchman began to gasp as he felt someone's arm grasp around his neck. Rockman and Ares simultaneously spun around to see Dark Blues choking his former comrade. The green navi's crest began to glow

"Blues! Stop it!" Rockman cried out helplessly, but Dark Blues swung at him with his sword, causing the blue navi to fly back.

The beast began to roar loudly as the white navi awoke sleepily. It lifted it's head to reveal pale blue eyes and a feminine face. The navi, visibly a female, looked out helplessly at the sight before her. Her arms and feet were bound to the throne, and her horse whinnied as she tried to break loose.

"Rockman, look! Your crest is glowing too!" Ares exclaimed, helping Rockman stand up.

"This monster you see…this is only the head! When all four horsemen take their spots on their thrones, the rest of the beast will form."

Ares frowned. Searchman still suffocated, yet as Rockman didn't want to attack dark blues, Ares knew what she had to do.

"Enzan…forgive me…"

Taking her sword, she cut through the dark navi's side, causing him to let go of the soldier navi.

"It's alright…" Enzan smiled "You just simply tickled him. He can take way more damage than that."

Rockman helped Searchman out of the way as they watched the two nearly identical navi's stare at each other.

"See? You've been replaced, Blues." Shuuseki echoed.

"No! This is Sarena's navi!" Enzan cried out helplessly as his father fed his navi lies

"Sarena doesn't have a navi. But never the less, I will delete this pitiful excuse!" Dark Blues swung his sword at her, only to have to have the blow skillfully parried by her.

"She does now…" Ares grunted as she tried to push him away, but he wouldn't budge, "She created me in order…to save…you!" with a burst of effort, the navi successfully pushed her challenger away.

Dark Blues growled as his standard sword turned into a variable sword. He lifted it to slam it on the ground, but Ares simply closed her eyes. "Now's your chance, Enzan!"

Stopping mid-air, he gasped, feeling as if her sword had gone through his crest. Instead, he looked to see it glowing in a vibrant red color. The good in his soul, memories, everything of who he really was came back to fight him within. It was the effect of the vaccine chip Enzan had inserted into the PET.

"Time to come home, nii-san." She slowly approached him, taking the light that had also formed on her crest and placing it to his. She stepped back, startled, as he threw his hands up and grasped at his head. Stepping back further, she watched with the other two as Blues began to fight with himself.

"It looks so painful…" she muttered.

"It is. It takes a lot from a navi." Rockman explained.

"You did a good job, Ares." Searchman commented.

"It's not over yet though…" she looked back at the beast, still threatening with it's unearthly roars. "Everyone get ready."

"yaaaaarrrrgh!" Blues screamed as he kneeled on the floor, bearing with the pain.

Almost…you're almost there. Just a little further…you can do this…they're waiting for you…You can do it Burusu-kun.

With one last scream, the navi fell limp to the floor, a dark flame hovering over the navi's body. An accurate aim, the slash of a sword, and the impact of a cannon attacked the floating flame of malice, and the three were amazed how easily the darkness was extinguished.

"Enzan…" Ares nodded to the male operator. The gate given to her by gateman was opened as she and Searchman helped lift the exhausted navi into it.

"Jack out, Blues." Enzan sighed as he was finally able to pull his navi out of the big, bad net. He was home. safe.

"You should jack out too, Ares." Searchman added.

"And leave you two here to fight? I won't."

"Look. Your crest. It's glowing now too." Searchman pointed out. Even after she had given the red light of her crest to blues, it now glowed even brighter along with the other two.

"Do you guys feel it?" Rockman asked

"That pulling sensation?"

"Yeah…"

"Yeah I feel it."

"I do too."

"You may have gotten Blues back, but that's no matter. It seems I was mistaken. It's not Blues that we need…" Shuuseki paused, "It's Ares. I must thank you. You delivered to me the finishing set to my little project!"

"What do you mean set?"

"Ares, Searchman, Rockman. You've given them all to me, and they're the three I needed to complete the beast. Simple as that!"

"You've got one problem, Shuuseki." Sarena piped up "We're not giving anyone."

"I don't need you to. Beast activate!"

The beast opened its mouth again, pulling in the navis once again.

"How can we take down this thing?" Ares grunted, resisting the pull of the wind

"The same way we take down everything: Hack at it until it blows up!" Rockman exclaimed.

"But we have to attack it from inside!"

"Rockman, Zeta cannon, comin' atchya!" Netto announced, loading the battle chips

"Ares, I'm loading another life sword."

"Searchman, search ray!"

"On the count of three!" Searchman announced, "one….two….THREE!"

the three of them let go, entering the beast. "Zeta cannon!"

"Life Sword!"

"Search Ray!"

A large explosion erupted inside the beasts mouth, and the navis were thrown out violently. The beast began to explode and the trio's victory was assured, but Ares noticed the white navi about to be deleted with the beast. She got up weakly, though various places on her body were being torn to pixels, and staggered toward the helpless navi. Searchman, who was less wounded, went after Ares.

"Wait here!" he pulled her back by the wrist.

"What, why?"

"You're too wounded! I can handle lock systems faster. I'll get her, you just worry about getting out of here! " Searchman ran on ahead of her.

as he helped the navi out of her locks, she looked at him curiously. "Why are you helping me?" she asked quietly

"We leave no man behind. We may not know you, but that's no reason to let you be deleted." As the last lock on her wrist came off, he pulled her with him. "lets get out of here before this place explodes!" He watched as Rockman helped Ares get through his gate and followed suit with his own gate, helping the pale navi step through before him

"Kuso…You'll pay for this, Enzan!"

Enzan smirked before laika closed the connection on his PET. "Heh, so you think."

Safe and sound, the navi's were returned to the net inside Miyuki's statue. Sarena jacked out Ares so she could recover while Searchman, Rockman and the mysterious navi began to talk.

"My name's Rockman" the blue navi introduced, reaching out his hand. She looked at it curiously, then shook it lightly.

"and I'm Netto, his net-op. What's your name?"

"I…" she spoke softly, "Irae."

"I'm Searchman, and my operator is Laika."

She shook his hand and looked at him gratefully, "Thank you…for saving me."

"Nah, Rockman. She seems a lot like Iris, you know?"

"Where's your operator? Where are you from?" Laika asked

She looked down, "I…I don't know. I don't remember."

"Let's go to the official's center. They'll help you find your operator and give you a place to stay until then." Rockman offered.

"…thank you…for your kindness…" she continued to speak quietly, still looking down.

"Sheesh, you speak like you've never even heard of it before!" Netto raised an eyebrow but soon winced "ow! What was that for?!" he glared at laika, who was glaring back just as defiantly after whacking the brunette upside the head.

"For being you. Blunt."

While the two bickered, Sarena sat next to her brother and grinned. "I told you it'd all work out."

He looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah, thanks."

"Worried about shuuseki?"

"Worried is only the half of it."

"With the beast gone, he's powerless. You know that, right? Everything he says now is just a bluff."

"Yeah…I guess you're right."

"Cheer up, Enzan!" Netto joined the conversation, "Think of it this way: with Blues back on your side, what is there that you can't face?"

Enzan smirked as he looked at his comrades all sitting cross legged around the statue in the middle of the floor. "When you put it that way…"

**0000000**

Rockman had gone off into the net with Irae to help her to the officials center. Sarena walked with Laika back to his hotel while Enzan walked with Netto to his house. Both pairs enjoyed the setting sun to relax them after a long, stressful day.

Enzan and Netto walked, fingers interlaced as they held hands on their calming walk. "What a day." Netto spoke up

"Yeah."

"Who'd have thought that Ares would be the red horseman?"

"I wouldn't have thought of horsemen to begin with."

"Yeah, me neither."

They came upon a bank that looked over the city, giving a crystal view of the horizon. The sun reflected in the far off waters, along with the orange skies blushing with red streaks. They took a seat under a tree as Netto cuddled up close to the older.

Enzan smiled as he wrapped his arm around his love, playing with a lock of Netto's chocolate hair. As the boy sighed contentedly, it hit Enzan that perhaps…just perhaps, things really were getting better.

And in the opposite direction, Sarena walked alongside laika, neither saying a word. She didn't know how to describe it, but something about his collected composure, his abilities, and not to mention his irresistible kiss at the hospital that made her wonder if there really was hope for a new relationship. (She also really liked the scent of his cologne, which she knew he had put on for that very reason.)

"Thank you…for helping out today." Sarena smiled, looking out towards the sunset as she walked. She didn't realize it, but she had began to blush.

"My pleasure." He looked at her and smiled. When she was on the verge of tears at the hospital he thought she was gorgeous, but now…when she smiled, well….he didn't know if there was anything more beautiful.

After walking a while in silence, she spoke up. "Laika-kun…can I tell you something?"

Looking over at her, he nodded curiously "Sure."

"You know…at the hospital. Do you remember what I was saying then, about how I had fallen really hard for someone?"

"Yeah?"

"You might hate me for this, but the person was Enzan…my brother." She looked down as she walked.

"I don't hate you for it. I don't condemn you either. Having not grown up with him, it's not your fault."

She looked up and smiled. "Thanks…I just thought you should know, so it would clarify some things."

"Did you know he liked Netto?"

"I had suspected it, and when we talked about it, I found out I was right." she chuckled. "Truth be told, I was a little wigged by it, but I didn't want to be a hypocrite, so I encouraged him. I mean, if I couldn't help but fall in love with my brother, how could he help fall in love with his friend?"

Laika realized her validity. "Do you still love him?"

"Well y'know, even though he's my half-brother, he's like a real brother to me. I think that I'm starting to love him in a family way more than a relationship way. I've noticed it's been a lot easier to be around him. and in an awkward way, I think you've kinda been helping it too." she smiled

"Oh? In what way?"

At this point, the blush on her face had deepened. "I think you know."

"Do I now?" He teased

she laughed, "Oh you just want me to say, don't you?"

"no! no! Honestly, I have NO idea what you're talking about!" he shrugged, playing along.

"Well then I guess you'll never know!" she crossed her arms playfully.

"what if I…tickle you!"

Sarena squeaked, laughing as he tickled her side. "Ah! Not…fair!" she tried to say between childish giggles. "Fine!"

Laika stopped tickling her, smiling in victory. She stopped, looking at him a moment, "But first, you'll have to catch me!" Her eyes widened as she took off running and he began to chase after her into the warm, evening sunset.

**0000000**

Arisa: awww! How cute! I was listening to "Chasing Cars" by snow patrol while writing that. I Know, all you yaoi fan girls probably want to kill me, but I mean, it can't be _all _yaoi!

Icy: Also, here's a little bit of info about Irae. Her name comes from Dies Irae, which is a thirteenth-century Latin hymn that describes the Day of Judgment. Just a little tidbit!

Arisa: yup yup. It kinda sounds like Iris, and if you notice, their personalities are very similar.

Icy: that's all. Review, peeps!


	18. Chapter 18: Emerald Eyed Secret

**A Few Overdue Thank-you's** before we begin. I'd like to thank Atreyu the Slayer, BluesLover,

**Chapter 18: Emerald Eyed Secret**

**00000000**

The next morning Enzan awoke to the unintentional sharp creak of a door opening. As he stirred from his bunk, he recognized the long black hair that was characteristic of one person in particular.

"Good morning sleepy head." She smiled, kneeling beside the bed.

Enzan groaned, "what time is it?" he asked sleepily

She snorted "only Eleven thirty."

"Holy sh…" He began to curse as he threw the covers off of him.

"I'll be outside." Sarena blushed and walked out the door as his finely toned, masculine torso was revealed. _Well, at least I don't love him that way anymore._

Leaning against the wall outside of his room, she closed her eyes and exhaled. Remembering the events of the past evening made her heart beat fast.

-----

"Well here we are." Laika announced as they reached the room.

"I suppose this is the part where I say 'I had a really good time.'" She smiled as he reached in his pocket for his wallet and pulled out a card key to the hotel room.

"I think that'd be accurate." He flashed her a quirky smile, sliding the key through the card reader on the door.

She looked down, "I had a really great time…" looking at her, he could see the vibrant blush on her face. She softly laid her hand upon his cheek and leaned forward to place a gentle, chaste kiss upon his lips. Pulling away, she smiled, "Thanks."

"No, thank you." He smiled and gently kissed her forehead. "I now look forward to tomorrow."

-----

The door quickly opened with a fully-dressed Enzan standing in the doorway. "You can come in now." He stepped aside, letting her in. Noting the goofy grin on her face, he questioned. "So what's with you? You seem pretty happy."

"You planned it, didn't you." she accused good-naturedly as they sat down on his bed.

"What?" Enzan asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

Turning and picking up his pillow, she chucked it in his face. "Oh don't give me that! You know!"

Taking the pillow and tossing it up toward the head of the bed, he shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"'Hey Netto, lets go get Sarena's food so she'll get a chance to know Laika, who just so happens to be very much like me! That way, she'll fall in love with him!' Ring a bell?" She mimicked.

Despite his protests, he gave in, chuckling. "Well…did it work?"

She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and hugged him from the side. "Flawlessly."

Enzan looked at her and smiled. "Good. Laika's a great guy, and you deserve only the best."

"aww, stop it! You're making me blush!" she laughed.

Blip beep blip 

Sarena took her PET out of her jacket pocket to see a sleepy Ares rubbing her eyes.

"You and Enzan both woke up late. I think the end of the world really is coming…" Sarena joked.

"Please no…" Enzan groaned.

"Hey, how is Blues recovering?"

"Good." The teen picked up a similar PET. "He's only got 5 data left to recover. He should be awake after breakfast."

"Speaking of which, we should head down there if you want any. Kitchen will be closed soon." She stood up.

"Lead the way, then." Enzan followed as she walked out of the room. As they ventured through the hallway, they recognized a familiar face.

"Hey, Ko!" Sarena said with a rather chipper tone

"You're awfully bubbly this morning." Kotyro noticed, then turned to Enzan, "So what was all that yesterday about you being taken?" he glared at the younger

"Pretty self explanatory, isn't it?" Enzan shrugged, digging his hands in his pocket. This was _not_ a subject he wanted to talk about, especially with Kotyro.

"Not if you want to know the person." Kotyro raised an eyebrow.

"No one you really know, and that's all you need to know." Enzan began to feel defensive.

"You can tell him, Enzan. He's not the condescending type." Sarena nodded supportively.

Enzan hesitated, looking at Sarena, then Kotyro. "…Netto."

Kotyro remained expressionless a moment, then shrugged. "Ah well, male or female. As long as it's not her." he darted his eyes toward Sarena, who rolled her own. "You'd be surprised to know the amount of kids here are in the same boat."

Feeling rather awkward, the youngest tried to change the subject, "Anyways, we were just headed towards the cafeteria."

"So when are we going to work on our mission?" Sarena asked as Kotyro joined them and began to walk towards the smell of food.

"Knowing Blues is safe and out of Shuuseki's hands means I have no worries about tearing the man to pieces. Knowing that Blues was in his hands means I have more incentive to tear him to pieces and mince ever last bit left." Enzan explained with a hint of anger in his voice.

"One more reason." Sarena added. "We got a recruit yesterday. A girl. Her father was murdered by Shuuseki. Apparently her father was one of his servants."

Disgusted, Enzan shook his head. "You'd think he had burned enough bridges. Baka."

"Well at least we can plan our mission now." Sarena sighed in relief.

"Egh, about that…I'm going to need you to fill in a little bit. Netto ran into a little trouble. Seems like Shuuseki got a hold of one of his friends, Meiru, and now she's working on the side of evil. But they're tainted by a darkchip, so it's not like they had a choice."

"I assume we'll be seeing him later then?" Sarena asked.

"Yeah."

"Do you think Laika should help? I mean, Blues is in no condition to fight a darkloid, and so that would leave only Rockman to help the girl's navi. Seeing as these things are like darkloids on steroids, don't you think it would be tricky for one navi to handle that? Laika had no problem explaining to me how he's trained to handle them." she scoffed, trying to hide the growing blush, but failed.

Enzan looked at her with a smirk, "Yeah right. You're good at acting when you want to, but you can't fool me."

Kotyro looked at her with a stern face. "What is he talking about, sar?"

"I like Laika." She stated simply as if it were no big deal.

"Oh?" Kotyro looked at her with a deep frown of dissaproval.

"Y'know, you don't have to act like my father all the time. I've gotten by just fine on my own, I don't need you protecting me like a ten year old." She stopped and glared at him, "Just chill, will you?"

The three stopped, Kotyro now standing in front of Sarena, and Enzan waiting off to the side.

"Have you forgotten who rescued you from that slut house?" Kotyro growled, but Sarena didn't back down one inch. Enzan's ears perked up.

What is he saying? 

"Rescue me? _RESCUE _me?" She nearly screamed, "You didn't rescue me from that! I quit, I was going to quit before, but it had just so happened that Yuki told me of your little gang. I NEVER asked you to "rescue" me. I was fine on my own, and if I needed rescuing, I would have been the one to rescue me, not you, not anyone else!"

"So why did Red's boyfriend there have to 'rescue' you from his insane navi? Or did you rescue yourself there too?"

She frowned deeper, "I could have rescued myself, but I didn't want to. I wanted to give up on this shitty life for reasons YOU would NEVER understand!" tears began to roll down her cheeks as hurt and anger that had been bottled up, overflowed, "A real father would sit down and listen…like my…dad." Finally she broke down, collapsing in the arms Kotyro offered her. "I'm sorry…" came her muffled sob.

Kotyro stroked her hair. "No…I'm sorry. I shouldn't baby you so much. You're a grown woman…I've just been trying you save you from experiencing any more hurt than you've already gone through."

Sarena pulled away, cheeks red and puffy as she wiped the tears away. For the first time Enzan had ever seen, The older man smiled warmly, and set his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. "It's just when I first saw you…saw all that you had to go through, with no one to look out for you, no one to protect you…my heart went out to you. I knew I was taking you in as a partner, but on an emotional level…you were like the daughter or little sister I never had. I wanted you to have someone that would look out for you, but at the same time, I didn't trust any one else to do that job. So though I never told you or anyone else, I swore to myself that I would protect you."

The tears had gone from her eyes, and all that was left was a sincere smile and eyes full of compassion. "Awww…Kotyro." She hugged him once more. "Thank you…you don't know how much that means to me."

Enzan smiled. _Heh. I get it now. The reason she never leaves this place is because the people are like her family. Never having one, it's easy to see how much they mean to her.. At least she'll have someone when I leave. _he exhaled heavily.

Leaving.

Up until now, staying had been his main path. But as the clock wound down to only a few more weeks that he'd be staying, he wondered if he could truly leave? _Ko's watched over me too, in little ways, I'm certain. And Sarena's my sister…The only family that I have – and love. But I promised Netto that I would leave after my mission. I suppose I can come back, but then , what's the point of leaving?_

Soon the three had began walking again. Sarena looked over at Enzan to see his face holding a concerned expression. _Oh…he must've heard what I said…_ "Hey ko, we'll catch up to you in a bit, I need to talk to Enzan."

Enzan looked up confused as Kotyro continued on. "What's this about?"

"I'm sorry I never told you that part about my past…It's nothing I'm proud of, it was just the one job that I could find during high school that would pay well, have the hours I needed and be convenient." She frowned.

Enzan looked at her curiously, "Is that all?" the question came out a little more sarcastic than he'd hoped, and with her slightly hurt expression, he corrected. "I mean, that didn't bother me. I didn't know if that's all you wanted to talk about."

"Oh." She responded a little surprised, "I didn't know. I mean…You looked like you were upset, and I had always felt bad for not telling you." she shrugged, "Well, yeah, that's all. I mean…unless you have something to say?"

He shook his head. "No, nothing really. I guess I was just thinking about when it comes time to leave. I promised Netto I would, but…this place has kinda become like home."

She ruffled his hair, "Don't worry squirt, I'll come visit you. You deserve a fun life, not chained to this place. She nodded toward Kotyro. "Lets go finally get some breakfast. My god am I hungry!"

**00000000**

Nina crept around the corner, looking into an empty room. _Kuso…_ she muttered to herself. Sighing, she turned around to be faced with a young blonde man not much older than herself.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, almost losing her balance.

"Looking for something?" he asked

"Yeah...I got lost. Which way's the cafeteria?" she managed to stutter.

"Oh, down that hallway. I'm headed that way too." He smiled innocently, "Would you like to go with me?"

Nina looked at him curiously. She began to feel something that had been locked away for a while now…kindness. She gripped her head in pain. "agh!"

"Are you okay, miss?"

"Ye-yeah. Headache. Probably from not having eaten for a while." She winced. "By the way, it's Nina."

"Yosuke." He smiled, for some reason, making her head feel as if someone were drilling a thousand nails into her head. "We better go get you something then."

As they walked towards the cafeteria, Yosuke seemed to be lost in his life story, and hardly noticed Nina looking around cautiously. He was so lost, he didn't notice her freeze when they had gotten in line.

It's him… 

Up ahead, Enzan received his tray of food, or should we say gruel. She immediately lowered her gaze as he walked to a table nearby the line, but she was forced to lift it when someone called her name.

"Nina!"

She looked up to see Sarena tugging on Enzan's sleeve. "This is the girl I told you about earlier. Her father was one of Shuuseki's servants. Nina, this is my brother, Enzan. Enzan, this is Nina."

"Hi…" She said a little reluctantly, but something inside her seemed to whack her upside the head for her rudeness, and she immediately bowed politely, "pleased to meet you."

"Welcome to the team." He nodded non-chalantly then walked to the table.

_Still stuck up as ever…_ Nina thought

Sarena looked at Yosuke, who'd been watching the whole conversation, "Well it looks like you made a friend. I'll talk to you later, kay?" She waved slightly then sat beside Enzan at the long, narrow table.

Yosuke finally spoke up, "Wow! You know Enzan and Sarena?"

"Sarena found me." Nina said a little bitterly.

"That's really cool. I heard Enzan's a little closed off, but Sarena is a really sweet person. Sometimes I find it hard to believe they're related. It's easy to see, though."

Nina felt like rolling her eyes, _does this kid ever stop talking?!_

"So you're on red team?"

She nodded, "Technology."

"Me too!" he smiled childishly.

_Oh great…_

"How old are you, Yosuke?" She asked

"16…why?" He asked curiously

"Just wondering." _Because you act like a 10 year old. _ He may have been good looking, but he seemed like a little brainless and naïve. _He reminds me of him…_ Almost instantly, her aching headache seemed to intensify.

Noticing this, he pointed to the counter and they moved forward. "Two meals." He said, handing the worker two tickets. As Nina looked at Yosuke confused, he responded instantly. "You do things around here to help out the family, and you get tickets. Tickets buy you meals. It's like a form of currency around here."

But for a kid who can't shut up, he's pretty sweet… 

"Thanks." She smiled, taking the plate. "What…is this?" she asked, as they walked away from the counter.

Yosuke laughed, "No one knows. But it's good, I can tell you that. Heck, I'm still alive, Commander Sarena and Commander Kotyro are still alive, and they've been eating this stuff longer than us." Spotting an empty spot, Yosuke pointed. "Let's sit there."

She smiled and followed him. _Maybe…maybe I can forgive…_

**0000000**

"Enzan-kuuuun!" a spunky brown-haired teen attacked Enzan with a hug that nearly tipped him over.

"Hey, you." Enzan smiled, wrapping his arms around the younger as they stood by the entrance.

So he's arrived… a watcher mused as she sat, gazing in the shadow. 

Enzan pulled him into a quick, chaste, greeting kiss and they entered, the watcher stalking closely behind. They arrived in the same computer room where they worked on retrieving the vaccine chip data Enzan had put together. The two entered, leaving the door cracked open just enough that the watcher could hear the conversation. Seeming to harmlessly walk by, she patted the wall, secretly placing a mini wireless microphone that would allow her to hear their conversation without looking conspicuous.

"So we didn't find Meiru like we had hoped…" Netto sighed, plopping down on a swiveling chair. It was so old and used, that the seat adjustment failed and let him fall down to the floor a little. Reaching under the chair, he pulled a lever that let him slide back up.

"Now that the beast is gone, I'm not sure why Shuuseki would keep her around. In fact, I'm not sure why he kept her around at all in the first place." Enzan mused, folding his arms and rubbing his chin pensively.

"Well he said Rockman was one of the horsemen, right? He probably knew that we were close and could get to him through Roll. It was probably good that Laika came here, seeing as shuuseki wouldn't think to look for Searchman here."

Enzan chuckled, "Our plan worked, by the way."

"What…oh…so she likes him now?"

Enzan nodded as he sat down across from Netto, straddling a similar chair and leaning over the back of it.

"That's why you're the brains and I'm the brawns." Netto stuck his tongue out childishly. Enzan grinned, taking the chance to taste his tongue and offer Netto's his as they kissed. Netto was the first to pull away, lingering only inches from Enzan's face, "We've got work to do…"

"I know…but you tempted me." Enzan said coyly, the air of his breath brushing against Netto's cheek and sendhing a chill down the younger's spine.

Netto grinned mischeviously, looking Enzan in the eyes, "What can I say? I'm tempting."

The black haired teen ran a finger along Netto's cheek to his lips and whispered in a low, husky voice that only the two of them could hear. "Oh so very." Enzan leaned in, kissing the younger once more, and as tempting that Netto was, Netto couldn't resist the temptation Enzan was to him. With a burst of energy, Netto pushed against Enzan's chair, sending them in different directions.

"Okay, okay." Enzan sighed with a hint of playfulness in his voice.

"Good. Y'know, you're tempting too, so one of us would have had to break it up sooner or later!"

The watcher listened as she wandered the halls and stuck her tongue out, disgusted. _Sickening…._ Walking around a corner, she ran into Sarena.

"Nina! So have you been acquainted with the place yet?"

"Mostly. We don't start until tomorrow, so I'm just taking the day off to get used to everything."

"Oh. Well, why don't you come with me. I'm going to go say hi to my brother's friend, so you can come with."

Nina smirked, "Sure."

As they walked, Sarena began to feel a little nervous about Nina. _She seems so different…more confident…more sadistic…maybe she's just in the mood for vengeance. _"One thing to remember," the black haired one began, "is to never let revenge get to your head."

Nina looked at her oddly, "wh…what do you mean?" _does she read minds?_

"Sure, we're serving revenge, but it's also justice. This place can lead you two ways: you can either become firm in good work, or become twisted and sadistic. Unfortunately, we once had to…eliminate one of our members who began to use their abilities for evil."

_I better tread lightly. _ "Oh…well I just want revenge on Ijuuin." Sarena looked at her "Shuuseki, I mean. Not your brother."

"Yeah…" Sarena nodded and looked straight ahead. _Something doesn't add up here…_

Upon reaching the room, Sarena knocked lightly before entering.

"Hey Sarena!" Netto greeted politely.

"Hey Netto. This is Nina, one of our new recruits."

"Konichiwa, Netto-_san_" she said, putting a little emphasis on the "san."

"Enzan…can I speak to you in private a moment?" Sarena asked, and Enzan flushed, embarrassedly thinking she had been watching surveillance. Once outside, he turned to him, "Something about Nina doesn't seem right."

Breathing a tiny sigh of relief, Enzan relaxed a little. "What do you mean?"

"She seems…weird. Like she's not genuine…I don't know…I guess it's just my instincts."

Sarena's instincts seemed to serve her right. Before Enzan got a chance to speak, Nina had bolted out the door, running away with a blue PET.

"Hey! Give that back!" Netto said, chasing Nina down the hall.

Sarena and Enzan looked at each other a moment then followed Netto in chasing her. She succeeded in leading them quite far away outside. Once she got into a little ways into a thicket of trees, she took the blue PET and tossed it as far away as possible. Then, within her hands, she formed four mini darts and threw them in a large circle around her. Netto caught up to her. _Activate._

A mini dimensional area expanded around the two, and the following siblings gasped in shock.

Within the dimensional area, Netto couldn't believe his eyes. Nina began to glow, and when the light dissipated, all that was left was a copybot.

"what—"

A black clad red head walked out from behind a tree, smirking. "Hello, Netto." Meiru looked quite satisfied.

"This is VERY bad." Enzan muttered.

"Who is that?" Sarena asked

"The girl we were trying to find. Seems like she found us."

"And knew exactly how to…"

Enzan pulled out his PET, only to be disheartened, "One percent left?! We don't have time for one percent! That could take a good ten minutes!" he looked at Sarena, a small synchro chip he held in the other hand. Hesitantly, he handed it to her. "You need to get a high speed, jump into the dimensional area, and crossfuse at the same time." Looking around, he noticed a motorcycle propped up against the building. She followed his gaze.

"This is going to take some timing, but I think we can pull this off." Enzan ran toward the motorcycle and Sarena followed suit.

"Meiru, why?" Netto asked, hurt.

"We've gone over this." she shook her head, "It's time for you to pay." She took out a dark purple chip and inserted it into the same old pink PET Netto remembered.

"Meiru…don't do this to yourself…I'm sorry…" He pleaded helplessly

Enzan handed one more chip to Sarena as they got to the motorcycle. "I made a chip with the extra vaccine data. I figured we would need it in such a case."

"Will it hurt? Crossfusing?"

Enzan smiled, "You won't feel a thing besides Ares' voice in your head."

"Oh that'll be interesting." Sarena thought aloud as she strapped a helmet on then hopped onto the front handle bars of the motorcycle. "Ready, Ares?"

"Ready when you are." Ares responded.

"Ready, Enzan?"

"All set."

Sarena looked up ahead, determined. "Let's do this."

**0000000**

Icy: I felt this was a complete success

Arisa: me too…

Icy: But we have an announcement to make…

Arisa: Yeah…These little author dialogues are going to be suspended for the rest of the story. If we want you to know something, we'll say it in an formal, paragraph way. I just find it easier.

Icy: See ya, world.

Arisa: please review!


	19. Chapter 19: Everyone's Desire

Well I'd like to thank all the reviewers, Random Irony, Kihaku Yamato, Vuurvlieg, x0Tobi0chan0x, Anime Ryu and Okami, Atreyu the Slayer, Blues Lover, and Euvany. It's so great to see a little review alert in the mail. Honestly, I do a little happy dance when I get one, it's just that great XD so Please please please continue to review. It is muchissimo appreciated. Kthxbai! n.n

**0000000**

**Chapter 19: Everyone's Desire**

**00000000**

Sarena jumped in mid air, her heart racing. She placed the synchro-chip in the red PET as she landed on top of the dimensional area. Her body felt like it was being melted into a new structure as she crossfused and slipped through the dimensional area at the same time.

"Sarena!" Netto exclaimed.

Enzan breathed small sigh of relief as he got off the motorcycle to see Sarena safely inside. _Now she needs to get the vaccine to Meiru…_

"Who are you?!" The dark, crossfused Meiru attacked Sarena with a barrage of black-flamed hearts and catching her off-guard.

Sarena grunted, "Meiru…I know you're hurt. I know how it feels."

"Yeah, that's what they all say. But no one understands this pain!" Meiru pulled back the hear-shaped arrow on her bow and sent it flying toward Sarena, who nimbly dodged the blow by a mere few inches.

_Wow…this power is something else!_ Sarena thought as she felt first-hand the effects of crossfusing.

"I do! I met my brother for the first time in 17 years, fell in love with him, then found out he's in love with Netto. You don't think I've felt the pain?!" Sarena shot back, managing to dodge a few more arrow attacks from Meiru. The redhead hadn't noticed how much closer Sarena had gotten to her.

"She's right, Meiru. You're not alone! Other people feel your pain, I feel your pain!" Netto added.

"Liar!" Meiru attacked him, sending the same cloud black-flamed hearts towards Netto, and causing him to fly backward onto the hard, rocky earth.

"AAAAGH!" Meiru screamed as Sarena had taken the chip Enzan gave her, literally a vaccine syringe loaded with the purge data, and stabbed her in the side with the syringe's needle. Sarena used all of the data, and Meiru fell to the ground, gasping in pain and shock. Her eyes widened as the crossfusion began to break.

Netto weakly got up and limped toward her.

"Stay back!" Sarena warned, making a stop motion with her hand as the other worked on emptying the syringe, "she can still hurt you!"

"It's okay, Sarena…I know what I'm doing." He put his arms around the fallen creature and held her in an embrace. A dark cloud began to separate itself from Meiru once all the vaccine had been transferred, but Netto held onto her the whole time. Once the dark spirit, a death grip on the innocent child, released it's hand on her, she fell half-consious in Netto's arms. Sarena used a number of attacks, including a familiar one that Enzan had given her earlier.

"Muramasa!" Attacking the flame numerous times with the powerful katana, it dissipated with a loud screech.

As Enzan watched, he felt a flood of memories rush back. It reminded him of the first time he saved Blues from his own terrible mistake. Closing his eyes tight, he shook away the heart stopping moments then opened to concentrate on the matter at hand. The past was the past.

"I'm sorry, Meiru-chan…I'm so sorry…" A tear trickled down Netto's cheek onto Meiru's shoulder. The liquid seemed to cool her body, and she fell limp in his arms as the crossfusion finally broke. Quickly, the dimensional area dissipated, and the pink PET fell to the ground. Enzan rushed to tend to the three.

"She's sleeping." Netto said, hearing her start to snore a little. He pulled her into his lap and let her head relax onto his chest as he sat against a tree.

"The poor thing…she must be exhausted." Sarena said with sympathy.

"You too. Crossfusion takes a lot out of you." Enzan spoke with concern.

Sarena shrugged. "Actually…I feel quite fine."

Enzan cocked his head to the side. "You're kidding."

"Must be in the blood." She chuckled, clicking her PET into the holster, then seemed to remember something. "Do you have a way to track Netto's PET?"

"Yeah, I'll do that now." Walking around the thick of the trees, it wasn't long until the black haired teen picked up the small handheld.

"Thanks." Netto said as Enzan handed the PET back to him. Tears were falling down his eyes as he stroked Meiru's soft red hair. _I never meant for it to turn out like this…_

"Let's get her inside." Enzan prompted and they all helped the sleeping girl into the building. As she slept in a recovery room, Netto sat by her bedside, not moving an inch.

Flashback 

"Netto!" a six year old Meiru called after him as he sat on the swings. She plopped down beside him. "Netto, let's get married!"

Netto smiled a toothy-grin, "Okay!"

They walked over to Bobby Ruben, who acted as the pastor. "Do you take Meiru to be your wafflely wedded wife?"

"I do!" Netto grinned

"Do you take Netto to be your wafflely wedded husband?"

"I do." Meriu said, beaming as they held hands.

"I pronounce you man and wife! You may kiss the bride!" Bobby stated.

Quickly and innocently, Netto placed a small kiss upon her lips. It seemed like the biggest deal in the world to the two of them that day. Weeks passed and Netto seemed to turn into a normal boy, getting the idea that girls had "cooties". Thankfully, the two weren't ever "divorced", but they certainly weren't "married" anymore.

End Flashback 

Closing his eyes, pooled tears were forced out of his eyes and down his cheeks. As he held her hand, he couldn't help but think of every wonderful memory they shared since they were toddlers.

I should have trusted her. I could have told her…I should have realized how good a friend she was, but instead, I took her for granted and put her in danger. Not only her, but Sarena as well.

Looking up, he sent a silent prayer in hopes of anything, anyone listening.

Please don't let her hurt for me anymore. She deserves the best, and she deserves more than me. Please heal her quickly and let her move on soon. Please…

"nngh…" Netto smiled widely as Meiru began to awake slowly.

"Wakey wake, sleepy head."

She looked at him through groggy eyes. "Ne…netto? Wha…where am I?" she asked, rubbing her eyes, slipping her hand out of his grasp. Once realizing he had been holding it, she blushed.

Was it all a dream? Him and Enzan? That girl…Blues…Shuuseki…My heart was so covered in hate…

"You're safe." He smiled, "That's all that matters."

The door opened and in walked Enzan and Sarena. _Guess it wasn't a dream…_she thought, her heart seeming to break once again.

"How are you feeling, Meiru-chan?" Enzan asked, showing genuine concern she had never seen before.

"Better…though I've been better." She looked down, "I owe you all an apology."

"Don't even start, Meiru-chan." Netto nearly interrupted. She looked up at him, surprised. "For one, you had no control whatsoever, and secondly, I owe you a huge overdue apology. I didn't pay attention to your feelings and took our friendship for granted."

She looked at him, tears brimming in her eyes, "Netto-kun…"

Sarena pulled on Enzan's sleeve and whispered, "Let's wait outside…they need to talk." The siblings exited, leaving Netto and Meiru alone to speak.

"Meiru-chan…gomenasai." He said, his head bowed. "If only I hadn't been such an ass none of this would've happened. I didn't think I could tell you how I felt about Enzan…I didn't think at all. I took you for granted, and I'm sorry."

"No, Netto-kun, it's my fault. If I hadn't been so nosy and demanding…if I had tried to resist the darksoul just a little more I wouldn't have hurt you."

Netto chuckled a little, "Here we are, trying to outdo each other's apologies, though I firmly believe my apology is more valid and needed." He looked at her to see her chuckle a little as well.

"Well I forgive you, Netto-kun."

"I don't forgive you, Meiru-chan." He smirked, taking her aback, "You have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing."

She rolled her eyes, "Someday I will get you to forgive me."

"I can't forgive a person if they haven't done anything wrong."

"But I have wronged you!"

"How?"

"By…by hurting you."

Netto laughed louder, "If I'm not mistaken, I hurt you worse than you hurt me. Any pain you inflicted upon me as a darkloid, I fully deserved. Don't apologize for rebuking me."

She grinned, "Big words. Seems like spending time around Enzan has actually helped your intellect."

"Oh shut up." He said good-naturedly.

She snickered. "Fine, if you won't forgive me, then I won't forgive you."

"Oh that's not fair at all." Netto whined.

She shrugged, "That's just life." He stuck his lower lip out, looking at her with big eyes and a cute, irresistible puppy dog look. She looked away quickly, "Now THAT'S not fair. You KNOW I can't resist the puppy dog eyes!" His innocent stare intensified, causing her to succumb to forgiving him. "Alright, fine! I forgive you!"

"Thank you."

Outside the recovery room, Enzan was pleasantly surprised to hear a chime on his PET which indicated Blues had finished recovering as well.

"Burusu-kun…" Enzan spoke with eyes filled with happiness and emotion

As the navi regained his senses, he looked at the screen quickly then hung his head in shame, "Enzan-sama…I'm sorry. I failed you."

"You're back, Blues. That's all that matters now."

This simple way of dismissing the subject was not uncommon for Enzan, but something about it seemed different. Blues heard compassion in his master's voice and looked up to see the black haired young man smiling at him warmly. Sarena was by his side, smiling as well. As if it were a contagious disease, Blues smiled back, filling the silence with a conversation expressed solely by smiles.

Netto walked a few steps out of the room, holding the door open, and breaking the silence. "Hey, you guys can come in now." The siblings entered, taking seats around Meiru's bed.

"I actually wore this?" Meiru asked, pulling at her black clothing. "I could probably stomp to jingle bells with these chains." She laughed, then looked at Sarena, "Thank you, Sarena-sama."

"Oh jeeze, just Sarena." She chuckled a little, blushing. "And really, thank Enzan and Netto. I just happened to have a lucky cross-fuse."

Meiru looked at Enzan with downcast eyes, "Thank you, Enzan...I'm sorry." Her voice held sadness as she quickly looked down. She couldn't stand to look him in the eyes while holding all her shame.

"All that matters is that you're back. Not like it was your fault to begin with."

"It was mine." Blues spoke up. Enzan handed his PET to Meiru to talk to the navi. "I must apologize, Meiru-san."

The three other humans sat confused. Up to this point, no one had really known _how _Meiru became a dark human, and now, why Blues was involved.

"Blues, what are you talking about?" Netto asked.

"While I was a darkloid, I led her into a trap then used her weakness to turn her against you all." He sighed heavily. "Shuuseki needed her to get Rockman back, and I found it as an…opportunity."

"Opportunity for what?" Sarena asked.

Blues looked down, "Just…to get Rockman back."

Sarena didn't quite understand, but Enzan and Netto instinctively knew what he meant and Meiru had found out while being under Shuuseki's control. Enzan looked over at Netto, who immediately knew what the older was thinking.

"I think all of our navis need to talk to get things sorted out and get acquainted. Same with us." Netto announced.

Meiru looked at her PET, "Roll is still recovering, but you guys can go ahead."

"I think that'd be a good idea." Ares piped up. "I'm dying to meet non-berzerko Blues." She said with a smile. "Find out why this kid looks like me."

"Acutally, Ares, he was made before you. So technically, you look like him." Enzan corrected.

"Okay fine, mister technicality." Ares rolled her eyes and Sarena laughed. By this time, Netto and Enzan had already wirelessly sent their navis into a nearby lamp, and Sarena quickly followed suit.

Once inside, Ares realized how much lighter in color normal Blues was. She tensed somewhat, instinctively equating him to an evil being, but forced herself to relax. "You look even more like me, being lighter."

"Thank you for helping me." Blues responded formally and casually to Ares. However, once he caught sight of Rockman, he immediately froze, unable to say anything.

The same thing, vice versa, happened with Rockman. Although he had been darkened a shorter amount of time, he still recalled everything that happened during his time as a darkloid—including their relationship. Sure, he still felt the same strong emotions for the red navi like he had as a darkloid, but Blues was a mystery. A rush of thoughts crossed his brain as he became less and less confident around the white-haired navi.

What if he doesn't feel the same way anymore? He must remember everything that happened, and oh man, if he does, and doesn't feel the same way, he must be disgusted…god I really wish I were anywhere but here right now…

Enzan took the opportunity to quickly lean over and explain Rockman and Blues feelings for each other to Sarena in a low whisper.

Leaning back and nodding as if a light bulb had been turned on in her head, she smirked, "Oi, Ares. Kotyro needs us for something. We'll talk to Blues later."

"Oh-oh…okay." Ares seemed a little sad to have to go so soon. "Catch you guys later!"

Blues grit his teeth _of all times…_

Netto and Enzan nodded, muting their PET's to give them and their navi's privacy and put the handheld devices away.

"You guys are evil." Meriu laughed. "I almost want to see what's going on…"

"You and everyone else here. I'm sure it must be amusing, knowing the two of them. If I know Rockman, he's most likely blushing up a storm." Netto grinned

"And if I know blues, it'll be nearly impossible for him to say how he feels." Enzan relaxed in his chair, crossing his arms. _We're both like that…_

"Well I'd say that things are looking up, at least." Sarena smiled, wiggling her foot as she crossed her legs.

"I should be getting home." Meiru began, sliding her feet out of the bed. "Just…thanks. All of you." she smiled, "I don't deserve your kindness."

"You deserve more than that, Meiru-chan." Netto smiled. She looked down at him in his chair as she stood up.

"And you deserve the most." She looked over at Enzan, who sat right beside Netto, "Be careful with him," she giggled, "and be patient, he can be kind of dense some times."

"Hey!"

"It's the truth." Enzan scoffed. "But I will. I'll take good care of him."

Meiru smiled then walked out the door. It wasn't long before she came back in, though. "Umm, where's the exit again?"

Sarena laughed, "Here, I'll show you."

The two females left the room and began to walk toward the exit. Meiru looked up at her, remembering seeing Netto and Enzan wait outside the hospital room. _So she fell in love with Enzan…_

Sarena waved to a passer-by, then seemed to remember some thing. "Yosuke!"

The young man turned around and Meiru's eyes widened. _Oh no!_

"Can you show my friend Meiru here the way to the exit?"

Meiru glared at Sarena. _Evil…_ Sarena caught her gaze and smirked.

"Sure!" Yosuke turned around. The older female reached in her pocket and pulled out a blue ticket. "I noticed you helped out Nina earlier. This is to pay you back." She handed him the ticket and he took it gratefully.

"Arigatou, Sarena-sensei." He bowed, then turned to Meiru.

"It was nice to meet you, Meiru-chan. I hope we meet again." Sarena smiled.

"Me too. Thank you, Sarena-san." She nodded then began to walk with Yosuke. "Um…Yosuke?"

"Yeah?" he replied kindly.

"I'm sorry for fooling you…you know the girl you met earlier? Nina?"

He looked at her, "How…what do you mean?"

"That was me." Meiru said, looking down at the floor as they walked. Yosuke stopped, completely baffled.

"How? I mean, she's blonde and you're a red-head!"

"It's a long story…to be brief, I was corrupted with a darksoul and crossfused within a copybot. You were seeing my navi; she has blonde hair and green eyes. But it was me, all the while."

"Why were you here then?"

"My heart was filled with anger towards Enzan and his friend Netto."

"Ah, you mean his boyfriend?"

"You know about that?"

"Word travels fast. Some people spotted them kissing earlier." Yosuke chuckled.

"Well I had known Netto for a long time, and…I liked him for a long time too." she explained. "I was kidnapped and tricked into using a darkchip. Once I became a dark human, I was bent on revenge on the both of them." Yosuke nodded, listening intently to her story. "I knew that Sarena was the leader of Vengeance…oh crap!" Meiru's eyes widened

"what?" Yosuke looked at her

"I have to warn her!" Meiru began to run in the way she had come from, with Yosuke following close behind. She had become faster from all her training, and the young man had a heck of a time trailing behind. Arriving at the recovery room, she quickly opened the door. "Where is Sarena?" She asked Netto and Enzan, who seemed to simply be talking.

"She just left…why? What's the matter?"

"I just realized that all of Vengeance is in danger!"

"Why?" Enzan's ears perked up

"Shuuseki knows that Sarena is the head of Vengeance! How do you think I knew where to find you?"

"Kuso…" Enzan growled.

"What's going on?" Yosuke asked meekly.

"Shuuseki was the one who kidnapped me, in a sense." She quickly explained

"Ooooh…"

"What a mess this has turned out to be…" Enzan sighed. He took out a black walkie talkie that was clipped to his belt. "Sarena?"

Almost immediately he got a response, "Commander Sarena here."

"It's Enzan. We have a problem."

"What's up now?"

"Shuuseki knows we're in charge of Vengeance."

Sarena, who had been walking to her room, stopped dead in her tracks. "We need to get rid of him right away." She said, regaining her composure, even though fear ran down her spine.

"Wait wait wait." Netto spoke up, "doesn't she have a fake ID and a fake name?"

Enzan looked at him, then specifically Meiru, "Does he know where we are?"

"Not that I think…unless he's tracking my PET." Meiru shook her head.

"Roll isn't awake yet…he wouldn't be able to track you without a transmission from her." He paused, beeping over the walkie-talkie, "Sarena, you're fine. Remember, you have a fake identity, and Shuuseki can't track Meiru back here yet."

Sarena, who had arrived to her room, relaxed, "You're right. All that's gone on is a little distracting. I forgot."

"Can he track Rockman or Blues?" Netto asked

"Not without bugging the PET's, and we had them the whole time Rockman and Blues were dark." Enzan reached out, "Meiru, can you stay a while? He most likely implanted a chip in your PET, if he did at all. I can find it and get rid of it."

Taking out the pink handheld, she quickly gave it over to him. Reaching in one of his lower pockets on his black cargo pants, he pulled out a small black case resembling a wallet. As he opened it, a few small silver screwdrivers were revealed.

Making sure the PET was completely shutdown, Enzan then turned it over and began to carefully unscrew the device. He noticed that the parts he had taken out began to accumulate and thus rolled his chair over to a small bedside table. Almost instantly, Netto, Meiru and Yosuke followed him over and looked over his shoulder. Time was tense, and Enzan was silent, leaving the other three wondering what he was looking for.

At last he pulled out a piece, examining it closely. He slammed the small chip down on the table and smirked at everyone's startled expression.

"There." He announced, and began to put everything back the way it had been before. As he finished screwing the PET back together, Meiru sat back on the bed, worried.

"What if he goes after me because of what I know?"

Enzan paused. That had been exactly why he had murdered his mother—because she knew too much, and was a threat. He realized that Netto was also a liability to Shuuseki. Enzan knew that his father had access to where they lived, where they went to school, and from this point on, they would not be safe.

"You guys have friends that'll let you sleep over, right?"

"Us two? You mean me too?" Netto asked

"You're a liability to him as well. You know too much…so does Laika."

"Oh jeeze…" Meiru shook her head, "What have we gotten into?"

Enzan looked at Netto, "This is exactly why I didn't want you to get involved…Why I wished you hadn't followed me here."

Netto shook his head. "You know I had to make sure you were safe. And besides, he kidnapped Rockman. That's where it became personal."

Meiru cleared her throat as if to change the subject "Yeah, I can stay over at Yaito's house and Netto, you can probably stay with Dekao's, right?"

Netto nodded. "But what about Laika?"

"Laika's staying at a hotel. He should be fine. He can always stay here too, seeing as he doesn't have parents tracking where he goes like you two." Enzan paused, "Until we get rid of Shuuseki, you're going to be have to very careful. If you see any suspicious people following you, run. If anyone pulls up to your house, get out."

Meiru looked at him. "My parents are always traveling. I go weeks without ever talking to them…" Her eyes glowed with a fiery, passionate brown. "Can I help eliminate him? I mean, technically, I'm already a member here."

Enzan shook his head. "You're still innocent. You don't know what it's like to take another man's life. I don't want you to have to live with that feeling."

She slammed her fist on the bed. "No I'm not, and I have Shuuseki to thank for that." She grit her teeth, "I'd rather live with the feeling of having committed murder, than the feeling of having sat back and not gotten revenge for what's been done because I was too weak."

Enzan looked at Netto, "I suppose…there may be someway you can help out…contribute…" He sighed, "I'll discuss it with Sarena and see what she thinks. For now, just lay low."

Inside the lamp, Rockman tried to talk to his operator, only to find the PET had been muted. _Those two…_

The navis stood in silence until the smaller one spoke up. "Do…you remember anything…from before?"

Blues nodded.

"Yeah…I do too…Look, Blues. I'm sorry."

The white haired navi looked up at him, "It's not your fault. You were darkened. You had no choice."

"Yeah…" Rockman looked down _Crap. He doesn't feel that way now…_

"Rockman?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you remember?"

"A lot of things…most of which I'd like to forget. Feelings, in particular." Rockman was silent a moment, "What about you?"

Blues felt a rush of emotions come over him, but he remained stoic. "Everything." He stated simply.

"Oh…" Rockman looked down. They sat even longer in silence until Rockman spoke up again. "Well, glad you're back. See you later." Rockman began to walk to the nearest link out until something stopped him.

"Rockman…" Blues called after him hesitantly

The blue navi turned around, "hai?"

Blues couldn't find the words he was searching for, "…good to see you."

"Yeah…you too." Rockman turned back and began walking until he officially jacked out.

Blues sighed, sitting down on the hard cyber floor. He looked off into the distant expanse of the net, but found no answers to his questions.


	20. Chapter 20: Good Things Come In Threes

We're rounding the corner and nearing the end of this story o.o Chapter twenty is up! (and chapter 19 is fixed XD argh, that was a beast. The formatting went all screwy)**  
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**0000000  
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Chapter 20: Good things come in threes.

**0000000**

"Your father has to go to Jawaii for mid-term research conference, and invited me to go along as an early Christmas gift." Hikari Haruka explained as she strategically placed folded clothes neatly in a black suitcase. "We'll only be gone a few days, but we're leaving tomorrow morning."

Netto listened as he sat on the edge of her bed. "That sounds like fun. It'll give me a chance to do some shopping and gift-wrapping too." _And it'll keep them safe in case Shuuseki tries to come after me. _"Well I better get going. Dekao gets all huffy if I'm too late."

"Alright, you two have fun." Netto began to walk away but Haruka caught him and spun him into an embrace, "Take care and behave." She said in a loving, motherly-tone.

"I will. Bye mom." With that, he walked out of the room. As Netto made his way down the stairs with a sleeping bag slumped over one shoulder, he noticed the front door open.

"Dad!" he sped up, nearly tripping down the stairs.

"Whoa, easy." Yuuchiro chuckled. "Where are you going?"

"Over to Dekao's. Mom told me you two are leaving tomorrow."

"Yep. How's the situation with Meiru?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Everything's good now." Netto went into careful explanation of what had happened, leaving out anything about Vengeance or his relationship with Enzan.

"Really?" The doctor asked surprised, "Well that's really good news. Does she know who the culprit is?"

"No. Neither does Blues. He hid his identity even from them." Netto lied. But, in a case such as this, lying was the only option.

"Well I'll let you work on it, but be careful."

"I always am, Dad." Netto grinned. "See you later!" He said, heading for the door.

"Take care!"

As Netto turned the corner to the street, he smiled at the sight of the large blue van parked on the curb. Opening the door, the familiar faces of Enzan, Meiru, and Sarena stared at him.

"What took you so long?" Enzan snapped

"Sorry, my parents are going on a trip tomorrow so I had to get the run down of what to do in case of an emergency and blah blah blah."

"Expect that from now on." Meriu rolled her eyes as she warned Enzan, "He's always late for _everything._"

"Am not!" Netto bickered back as he sat in the back seat next to Enzan.

"Are too!" Enzan and Meiru both shot back at the same time.

"Only when I'm off saving the world." Netto crossed his arms and sat back in his seat.

"I can do that and still be on time for appointments." Enzan studied his fingernails disinterestedly.

"May I remind you…" Netto began, causing Enzan to look over to see the brunette mimicking his hair flicking motion.

"You didn't…"

"I did." Netto grinned childishly.

"Oh boy." Meiru snickered.

"I'll make sure you get your payback." Enzan crossed his arms, leaning back against the seat and looking out the window.

Netto raised an eyebrow and leaned over toward Enzan a little, "Yeah? How?"

Enzan looked back at him, smirking. "Wouldn't you like to know."

The brunette looked him in the eyes, then smirked as well. "I think I'd rather be surprised."

Sarena coughed purposely, breaking the two apart. "I assume you'll be helping us on our mission with Shuuseki, Netto?"

"Hai. We're going to get him good."

"He's not going to see the face of the earth again…"

"Oh hey, I have an interesting update, by the way." Netto spoke up and all attention turned toward him. "You know the shy navi we found at Lamb net?"

"Yeah, Irae?" Sarena asked

"Hai. Rockman went to go check on her, but apparently her owner had found her. When we asked who the owner was, the official said she belonged to an 'Ijuiin Rukku.' Is that Shuuseki's new son?"

Enzan raised his eyebrows, "Yeah…it is. No wonder she was so meek."

"She was pretty, too." Sarena added, "She must be pretty powerful to be considered the white horseman."

"I could've told you that." Meiru spoke up. "I remember Irae. Shuuseki wiped out her memory just before taking her to Lamb net. One thing's for sure, she doesn't like Shuuseki and she definitely doesn't like Rukku either."

"That's good. That means if we ever encounter them in a net battle, she most likely won't be willing to fight us, and they won't be strong enough to cross-fuse." Netto mused.

"Poor thing." Meiru shook her head. "I'm tempted to rescue her, but then that'd be kidnapping."

"It'd be easier just to wipe out Shuuseki's whole 'family'." Sarena sighed. "But technically, they didn't do anything wrong."

"Yeah, we can work on freeing Irae after our mission is done." Enzan sighed, "Rukku is no doubt a jerk."

"Also more news…" Netto began, "I researched the historical genocide your father was trying to hide."

"Oh?"

"Interestingly enough, there was some sort of Montague and Capulet warfare going on between your family and one other. And I think you'll be surprised to know which family was your rival."

"Surprise me." Enzan commanded, genuinely interested.

"The Ayanokouji family."

"Forehead's family?!" Enzan gaped

"Yaito?!" Meiru exclaimed just as surprised.

"Seems the rivalry between IPC and Gabcom isn't just business affairs. I believe this is exactly what he was trying to hide. Apparently the Ijuuin's managed to wipe out most of the Ayanokouji family, though a few descendants remained. I'm assuming that's what's meant by the cultic genocide. Your family hated them and tried to kill them all."

"Where did you find all this?"

"Did you know that the Undernet has a library?" Netto grinned "Historically accurate too. It's all the documents that the officials don't want to be released to the press and public. Think about it; Alpha was sealed away there by scientists. So were important documents, pharaoman's temple, et cetera et cetera."

"So that's why Shuuseki wanted to keep it a secret so bad…bad enough to kill my mother." Enzan mused. "I'll make sure the Ayanokouji's are avenged then."

"That's what Vengeance is all about." Sarena smirked.

The van pulled up to a thicket of trees and disappeared within. Once the car was parked, all passengers departed and began to head for the building. Once inside, all of the Red Team was assembled into a meeting room, along with Netto and Meiru.

"So our first plan to eliminate Shuuseki was foiled by a spy. The second plan was interrupted, and the third plan has been revised. Instead of attacking Ootosha and Rukku, we're just targeting Shuuseki." Enzan nodded to Sarena, who pressed a button on the projector, displaying a large map on the wall. "Now, here's the plan."

**0000000**

"Where to, sir?" the limo driver asked the man, who frowned as if the scowl was plastered on his face.

"Heinelmans. Make haste." The man barked, leaning back in his seat.

"Certainly." The driver smirked before driving off.

As the scenery outside the window became more and more remote, the passenger began to worry. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't actually been to Heinelmans before, so he could only trust the driver's knowledge at this point. However, when the limo pulled alongside a desolate road and stopped, the passenger feared for the worse.

"What's this all about!?" He snapped.

"Flat tire, sir." The driver got out of the car and moved around the backside of the car.

After five minutes of waiting, the passenger began to become impatient, as he noticed the driver was making no attempt to fix the tire. The passenger got out of the car and crossed his arms. "What is taking so long!? I have a meeting in less than fifteen minutes!"

"Look at this." The driver pointed to something under the car, forcing the passenger to kneel down beside the driver and look where he pointed.

"I don't see—" His sentence was cut off by the driver, who had grabbed the passenger's head and forced a rag over his nose and mouth. Within seconds, the passenger was out cold.

Smirking, the driver hoisted the passenger into the back of the limo carelessly and got

into the drivers seat. Pulling out a cell phone, he speed dialed to a comrade as he drove away. "This is red number one. Mission one has been completed, now heading to red number two."

The limo drove to a desolate area surrounded by trees. He spotted a white van parked off the side of the road and pulled up alongside. Rolling down his window he smirked, "Red bomb."

"Red hearse." The man in the white van replied. Quickly, they exchanged the passenger between cars and began to drive in separate directions. The driver of the white van pulled out his PET and dialed to another comrade. "This is red number two. Mission two has been completed, now heading to red number three." Another man was seated in the back of the white van, meant to keep an eye on the passenger. There was no need for this, though—the passenger stayed out cold the entire ride.

The van pulled up to an old museum, just off the coast line. The museum had moved to a larger location, leaving behind a perfectly vacant building. The two men quickly unladed the passenger into the building where a woman and young man waited. "Red bomb" they said to the duo.

"Red hearse," the woman replied back. "Good job."

"The bombs are all in place." A young man appeared behind the two.

"Just in time." She stepped out of the way so the young man could see the drugged passenger being carried in by two men. "Hurry in. The bombs are set to go off in ten." She commanded. Quickly, the passenger was carried to a storage room within the small showroom of a museum. They locked the door to the storage room and, once they exited, locked the front door as well.

Sarena sighed, crossing her arms. "I can't believe this is finally it…"

"Yeah," The Enzan dug his hands in his pockets. "Oh crap!"

"What?!" Netto asked

"My PET! I left it on a box in the storage room."

Sarena ran to the front door, unlocking it and handing him the keys, "Hurry!"

He darted inside the museum, quickly rounding the corners. As he went through, Sarena and Netto waited impatiently outside. _9 minutes and 30 seconds…_ she bit her lip as she watched the countdown.

Enzan quickly unlocked the storage room to see his PET lying atop a box behind shuuseki. One problem, however—Shuuseki was waking up. Enzan tiptoed over the man and grabbed his PET, hoping to lock the door and get out before the man finally woke up.

"You…" He hissed, grabbing Enzan's ankle. He pulled the young man down and got up quickly, hovering over Enzan.

"Shuuseki…" Enzan grunted before quickly getting back on his feet.

"So you… planned this all!" Shuuseki dove after Enzan with a punch, in which Enzan nimbly dodged.

"Well I can't take all the credit. Sarena helped too!" Enzan shot back, backing out of the storage closet. On a near-by wall, two swords hung as a decoration obviously forgotten. Both Ijuuins noticed this and ran over to the wall. The final result of the scurry had come to result with Enzan with one sword and Shuuseki with the other.

"The irony." Enzan smirked, "On guard!"

The sword fight began. The clanking of swords, the parrying and attacking continued for several minutes.

"You're good, old man!" the younger complimented through clenched teeth. As they fought, they moved their way toward the entrance, but it was up to the duel as to who came out alive.

"I've had my practice." The older smirked, managing to slice Enzan in the leg.

"Argh…" Enzan staggered back, but kept on fighting. "We all know you're an expert at murder. I'm sure this is how it went down between the Ijuuin and Ayanokouj family so many years ago."

Shuuseki gaped, "How, how did you know?!"

"I'm just smart. Too bad you failed," Enzan paused as his sword had pierced through his father's chest, "…to…see…it…"

"Enzan!" Netto ran in. "What the devil happened here?!"

Shuuseki staggered back, falling down. Blood dripped down his shirt onto the floor where he laid, eyes open and motionless.

Enzan stared blankly at his father while Netto pulled on his arm. "Come on Enzan, we have to go! We have less than two minutes and we need to drive clear of the area!"

Enzan finally turned to leave, but his leg wound impaired his ability to walk. Netto wrapped his arm around the older and helped him to walk out the front entrance.

"Enzan!" Sarena ran up and helped carry the black haired young man.

"It's just my leg…" he protested as she carefully lifted under his legs and Netto carried him by under his arms.

"We need to get out of here fast!" Sarena said as they got to the van. The two carefully lifted him onto the seat before scurrying into the van themselves.

Sarena looked down at her stopwatch, "Thirty seconds left! Step on it!" The van pulled away quickly, sending dust in the air from where it pulled off the side of the road. The three watched out the back window for the explosion.

"five…four…three…two…One!"

A large explosion took part of the sky and three watched in awe. Enzan looked over at Sarena, who had a smug look on her face. _I've avenged you, mother, father. You may rest in peace and so may I._

"Sar…" Enzan began.

She looked over, a blank expression on her face, "yeah?"

"How do you feel?"

She let out a sigh. "relieved…a little…disappointed, I guess."

"Disappointed?" Enzan asked worriedly

She shrugged, "Enzan, I've been waiting for this day for years. My whole life has been dedicated to this. Now it's come and gone. I know I should be happy, and I am, but now I feel like saying, 'what now?'"

"I'll tell you what now." Netto spoke up and their attention turned toward him, "Now, you work on another mission, serving justice to those who deserve it, and taking in those who have nothing." He smiled, "and now you can go on knowing your parents have been avenged, and Enzan is free."

The two boys' eyes met and Enzan genuinely smiled. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

Sarena looked down, "And I guess this means you'll be leaving…"

"Like you said, I'll come back and visit. I'm sure Laika will too."

Sarena blushed, "Actually…I've been doing some thinking. I want to get married, I want to have kids, but I can't do that while being the leader of a 'terrorist' organization. I'm thinking about resigning my position."

Enzan shrugged, "It's your life. You've done your duty and avenged so many people. You've hardly paid attention to what you want. I mean, you really haven't had a chance to go out and actually live. I'd say what you're asking is only fair."

Sarena smiled. "Maybe I can join the Sharro military with my abilities and protect more people."

"I'm sure Laika would like that." Netto chuckled. "Just don't forget to invite us to the wedding."

The black haired female blushed, "Oh stop that."

"Hey, don't you think this calls for celebration?" Netto asked.

"I'd think so." Sarena smiled, "any ideas?"

"Well…seeing as my parents aren't home, and they don't mind me having a few friends over, I thought maybe we could all go over to my place for a little party. " Netto offered.

"I'm all for that! Enzan?"

"That sounds great."

"Perfect." Netto smirked, catching Enzan's attention.

"What?" the older of the two asked

"You'll see." Netto's smirk deepened

"Oooooh!" Sarena giggled.

"What? Wha!?" Netto looked at her, gaping, "No!" His face immediately went red.

"Hehehe…"

Enzan rolled his eyes, "geeze Hikari, get your mind out of the gutter."

"ME?! She thought of it first!"

By this point, Sarena had lost it, leaning back and laughing hysterically. Soon the laughs became contagious and the whole van burst out in laughter, including the two men who had originally been driving.

**0000000**

"Well, it's over." Sarena sighed happily as she sat next to Laika on Netto's couch. She took a sip of the warm apple cider and cuddled close to him. "At first, I wasn't so happy, but now, I feel like nothing can get me down." She had one socked foot on the couch, her knee pulled close to her, while her other foot rested on the floor. Laika wrapped his arm around her as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"That's always good." he replied, stroking her black hair.

"I'm actually thinking about leaving Vengeance…" she said, gliding her finger gently along the rim of her cup. "And maybe…working somewhere else. Somewhere I can use my combat skills…" she looked up. "How hard is it to get into the Sharro military?"

"Are you serious?" he asked, a little surprised.

She nodded. "Completely. The recruit training will be nothing for me. I can handle it…and we can be closer together. Wouldn't that be good?"

He relaxed, "That'd be great."

Meanwhile, Netto rested his head against Enzan's chest as they simply laid on his bed. The pale white moon could be seen, shining through the window onto the two, and they watched as soft fuzzy snowflakes fell gently from the sky. Enzan smiled, sliding the blue bandanna off Netto's head, and running his hand through the brunette's soft hair.

"Hm…Enzan-kun?" Netto murmured softly.

"Hai?" Enzan replied quietly.

"I love you…"

Enzan closed his eyes and smiled as he stroked the younger's hair, "I love you too, Netto-kun."

Within Netto's computer, both boys had left their Navis to talk once again. They left the connection open this time, but paid no heed to what the two navis were saying.

"They seem really happy…" Rockman stated, watching his net op.

Blues sat beside him and nodded. "That seems to be the case. I've never seen Enzan-sama so happy before."

"Well he has a lot of pressure taken off him now, and he's got the one he loves. I'd say he's a lucky guy."

"Hm."

"Blues…" Rockman began, looking down at the floor. His stomach churned as he tried to speak.

"Hai?" he asked, looking over at the blushing blue navi. Suddenly he understood and knew how the other felt.

"I feel like…like there's something we need to talk about…" his blush deepened.

"What's there to say that we don't already know?"

"Huh?" Rockman looked up, surprised. "WH-what do you mean?"

"Well, what's one plus one?"

"Two…" Rockman nearly whispered and looked curiously at the white haired navi. "I don't get it…What are you trying to say?"

"Rockman, when you were purged of the darkness, you remembered everything of what happened, right?"

"Right…"

"You also still feel how you felt before, right?"

Rockman gulped, "…right…"

"So based on that logic, why would you assume that I don't feel the same way, if I still remember everything?"

The blue navi gaped a bit, "I…I don't know. I guess, I just thought…I thought maybe it wasn't genuine. Like the darkness had done it to you…"

Blues smiled a little, "No, you did."

"Blues…" Rockman whispered, leaning closer to the red navi. Softly, their lips brushed before puling the two into a kiss.

**0000000**


	21. Chapter 21: Destiny's Christmas Gift

This is it! Final chapter! (unless, a'course, I decide to do a sequel and then we'll have to have an epilogue. :P) I want to thank EVERYONE who has read my story and given me great reviews and support! As I replied to one reviewer, you guys have really been a motivation and a great encouragement to me as a writer. In fact, I do believe that all this writing is the reason why I got an Exceeds on my state's standardized writing test. Thank you ALL!

**0000000**

**Chapter 21: Destiny's Christmas Gift.**

**0000000**

Snowflakes fell gently on the Hikari residence on Christmas morning. Netto, in all his childish manners flew down stairs the minute after waking up to see what presents had been stocked under the Christmas tree. But what got his attention the most was not the pile of pretty paper and bows, nor the glistening lights and tinsel, but the best gift of all sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee with his parents.

"Enzan!" Netto ran over to give the other a hug, and Enzan stood up from his seat, receiving and reciprocating the embrace. "Merry Christmas" He smiled.

"Merry Christmas." Enzan replied

Netto looked over at his parents as he now became a little skeptical, anxious and worried, "How did you…what…why…" He was at a loss for words as he tried not to sound too suspicious.

"It's alright Netto. I called Enzan up to see if he'd like to join us today. Your father told me what had happened." Haruka explained as Netto sat down at the table, "I didn't think it was right that anyone be alone on Christmas."

"Also…we began to put two and two together." Yuuchiro announced, clearing his voice, "if we're not mistaken- and if we are, please forgive us- we want you to know that whatever the relationship between you two is, we accept."

Enzan went scarlet, and Netto blushed as well, "Really?"

"Really." Haruka replied, smiling.

Just then, the doorbell rang, and the two older 2Hikari's nodded to Enzan. "Excuse me," he said, getting up from the table to answer the door.

"Oooh, merry Christmas!" Sarena outstretched her arms and hugged her half-brother. But at this point, half or whole, the two were as close as siblings could be.

"Merry Christmas" he replied once again as he let her in.

"Sarena!" Netto announced happily.

"Hey there, Netto!" she smiled, taking off her light purple gloves and beanie and unwrapping the white scarf that had been dusted with tiny snowflakes. Of course, snowflakes had also attacked her black hair, making it glimmer in the right light.

"Too bad Laika had to go back to Sharro, huh?" Netto said to her, grinning, as she sat down at table.

"I'll be seeing him soon enough though." Sarena smirked, "I just sent in my application yesterday."

"Ooh, Laika, huh?" Haruka said with a giggle, folding her hands. "Winter is just such a romantic time," she said, leaning over and rubbing her nose against Yuuchiro's.

"I think that seems to be the case," Sarena smirked as she looked over at Netto and Enzan, who happened to be sitting next to each other.

"Yeah, look who's talking," Enzan shot back with a smirk to challenge.

"Oh! And speaking of romance, I hear that Yosuke's really taking a liking to Meiru-san."

"Who's Yosuke?" Haruka asked.

"Oh, just one of my friends. He met her when we got her back from the 'dark side'." Sarena chuckled, "Y'know, I can really see them working well together. He's a lot like Netto," she grinned, "and if I'm not mistaken, Netto was her object of fancy, was he not?"

"You could say that," Haruka responded, trying to look innocent.

"Yosuke's a good guy, too." Netto added, "But enough of the mushy stuff. I'm starving!"

"Right, right." the lady of the house chuckled, getting up from her spot next to her husband. "Can't start the day without food!"

As they ate, Enzan felt himself warming up to Netto's family. They asked him about his plans, and took an interest to Sarena as well.

And to think—before, this had all just been a mere wish that he had once deemed as "demure" "tasteless" and "tactless". On that one day when he sat across from Shuuseki, wondering if the Hikari's would welcome him to eat with them. He never thought that the one risk he took when putting down his emotional barrier and accepting Sarena's "mac n' cheese" would open up his world to all destiny had to offer him.

And now, as he sat that night, staring at the Christmas tree with Netto sleeping peacefully against his shoulder…as he sat there with his arm around the one he truly loved in the presence of Netto's loving family and his loving sister…he realized something. Destiny had come to him…and it had come to him for love and revenge.

The End


	22. Epilogue

Haha, I knew I just couldn't end the story there! Y'know, it's funny. I began "For Love and Revenge" right before 10th grade during the summer of 06, and now I'm planning another series as I head into 11th grade. It's funny, I think I had about 5 dreams with Sarena in it, and I'm sure zillions of dreams with Enzan in it XD. For Love and Revenge has really challenged me as an author, but that's good; I always love challenges. So, like I said, we're going back for more!

Epilogue

**0000000**

"Last night the Ijuuin residence was bombed. Fortunately, Shuuseki had been warned of the attack about an hour early and was able to evacuate. Officials are currently investigating the incident, but most believe the net terrorists Vengeance responsible for the attack. This is Ribbitta with DNN news live."

Rukku flipped off the T.V. hastily. "Father, why don't you just get rid of those guys?" he asked annoyed.

"It's not that simple. If I fight back, they might find out that Enzan's alive."

"Well you could take out Sarena." Ootosha pointed out as she joined the duo in the living room of their fancy hotel. "I mean, then you would be hailed for having caught the leader of Vengeance!"

Shuuseki shook his head once more. "I'll have to do it carefully." _She would most likely squeal about Aria and Hiroke's death. Lord knows that would be all hell. All they need to do is dig up their graves to see that the two were shot._

"You'd better hurry. At this rate, you'll be dead by the time you figure out how to get them."

Shuuseki frowned. He knew Enzan was working with them. All he needed was to stall them. At the same time, he had to work on his other plans. The beast was almost finished. He knew Irae, Rukku's navi, was the white horse. She had to be. The meek little navi was a terrible retribution when unleashed; it gave him shivers to think of what the power he could gain by joining her, Blues, Rockman and Searchman.

"Well, I think if we just proceed with our current project, stealing Blues away from Enzan will certainly delay them." Shuuseki turned toward Rukku, "I almost forgot. I found this program on Enzan's old work computer. He created it to track Blues in case of emergency. I need you to bend the program so _we_ can use it to find him. " Shuuseki handed the miniature disk to Rukku.

"I'll get working on it right away."

**0000000**

Nearly a month later, Ootosha paced around the hotel room frantically. She had the officials on the phone, "He is alive! He and his step-sister are the leaders of Vengeance!"

"I'm sorry miss, but Ijuuin Enzan was killed in a car crash. And he doesn't have a step-sister…" The official protested.

"But my husband is MISSING. Do you realize they BOMBED his house not too long ago?"

"Miss, I'm sorry, but even so, we have no lead on where their hideout is, if Enzan is alive and his step-sister is in charge of it. We will however, work on investigating your husband's case."

"Thank you." Ootosha sat down on her bed and hesitantly hung up the phone. She hung it up so slow, that one could barely hear the click of the phone pressing into the receiver.

Rukku leaned on the door frame, arms crossed. Deep determination filled his emerald green eyes that were shaded by silky black bangs. _Enzan…you'll pay for this…._


End file.
